Route 17 is a route afflicted with perma-rain, and the same conditions await us in Po Town proper. Since the introduction of Sliggoo in XY, the devs like having some way to reliably get Sliggoo's evolution by having a route permanently raining, and this is a good place to go here. Tapu Village is also fairly decent itself, although I have seen it clear up.
...Below? There's a mountain on the east side, but Po Town doesn't go under it.
Citation needed. Although presumably, what matters is you not picking fights, not other people picking fights with you.
I presume this is as opposed to fighting things out, although in this neighbourhood, the point feels either missed or muddled.
The police station is stuffed full of Meowth. Yes, I checked- they all have different lines for meowing when you talk to them.
In the back of the police station, we can find our fourth Zygarde Core. And Squishy's only been in the party for five minutes!
And yes, Sina still does her spiel about what Zygarde Cores are.
This Core gives the ability to teach Squishy Thousand Waves, a 90 Physical Ground move that traps whatever it hits. Decent utility, although when you compare it to Thousand Arrows, the decision of which one is more deserving of a move slot is obvious.
Zygarde does have some cool competitive plays with it, particularly if you can manage to land it on something helpless to stop you setting up.
Route 17 and Po Town are utterly infested with something that might come as a shock to say never appears anywhere else in the game: random Skull Grunts. All Skull Grunts before now were event Trainers, who had cutscenes associated with their introduction and defeat. These guys have the same ceremony as a normal Trainer.
When you encounter them, they have a unique Trainer Encounter sting (the short chime that plays when a Trainer spots you), and while I feel like the actual encounter loop is a new song, it may just be the normal chime playing the first few bars.
They have the same "you're fighting a member of Team Skull" wipe as usual, though.
Team Skull has a suite of unevolved, fairly unremarkable Pokemon to call their own. Odds are good you're not going to struggle at all to deal with them here.
It's, frankly, embarrassing.
Now, see, your problem was catching a male Salandit. You should have an evolved one were it female.
At least you're putting that can-do attitude to practice.
The mountain is over to the east here, and is entirely optional. To get to Po Town, all you have to do is follow the path.
There's a TM up here, thankfully, because this is hardly the most encouraging of prizes.
There's a bunch of tall grass up here, but once again, nothing new to SM. USUM adds something, though:
Bisharp (Ultra Sun): No matter how strong the Bisharp, it's said that if the blade on its head is chipped, it will retire from its position as the boss.
Bisharp is a Dark/Steel type, and quite possibly the strongest Pokemon to have ever gained an evolution in later generations. Bisharp is as good as it gets here in USUM, and that's with a strong Atk stat of 125, a decent Defence, and moderate Speed. Its main weakness is that you have to tutor Iron Head onto it, and it's forced to rely on Assurance as its Dark STAB until level 49. You're still getting your mileage out of it, though, owing to the fact that it normally evolves from its prevolution at level 52- the level 33-36 Bisharp here are massively underlevelled. Sadly, it missed the mark on Ailey's team for a prevalence of Dark types and the pre-existing presence of Shade.
Bisharp's Abilities are Defiant (+2 Atk if it suffers a stat drop) and Inner Focus (immune to flinching). Bisharp is almost the king of the Defiant Ability, and it is the best option in its entire kit. Its HA is Pressure (opponents use 2 PP when using a move on it), which it isn't really bulky enough to get the most benefit from.
Pawniard (Ultra Moon): It follows Bisharp's orders to a tee when it attacks enemies. After slashing an opponent, Pawniard clangs both of its blades together.
Bisharp cannot call for help from other Bisharp- they will always summon their prevolution Pawniard. Pawniard still has a fairly usable Atk stat of 85, but it's not worth using one of these instead of just sticking with the Bisharp.
Weird find, but OK.
There's a Skull Grunt behind a big Tauros rock at the top of the mountain here, but strangely, I didn't get caught by him ploughing straight through. You'd think the point of putting him here is to cause that exact situation.
This guy is missing from USUM.
Tell that to your friend at the bottom of the mountain.
Golbat might actually be a candidate for the strongest Pokemon a Team Skull Grunt uses. They at least have diversity to them, even if their quality is less present.
There'll be plenty more where that came from.
Even Team Skull's litter is wanting.
OK, seriously, what's with the Pelago hints?
This part of the mountain has branching ledges, and unfortunately, it is not possible to acquire all the treasure in one trip.
The first stop is to go west twice, because that's where the TM is.
Poison Jab is an 80 BP Physical Poison move with a 30% chance of inflicting Poison. It's more often used as coverage on Pokemon that want to hit Fairy types, particularly here in USUM. USUM moves it much later- and unfortunately for it, after a boss that might have rewarded it. Fortunately, it has Iron Head for Fairy coverage.
USUM puts Rock Slide here, since there is no TM in the place Rock Slide was in SM.
Going to the bottom of the mountain through the ledge maze allows you to skip this guy.
Taking the first east branch gets you a Zygarde Cell in SM.
There's nothing on double east, while the middle has a Trainer.
Did you notice? This is the first female Grunt outside the Diglett's Tunnel Multi Battle in SM. Admittedly, it's pretty rare that any evil team uses a female for an event thus far- if you're looking for other examples, you might get some in Team Plasma and the Skull added to Malie City in USUM. Which is weird because, if you're adding a female version just for variety, why not throw that variety in the rest of the encounters?
She has two Pokemon, but neither of them have evolved. Surprisingly, only Lurantis should have.
Razzly's job seems to be forgetting which of her moves are the most effective for a situation. Despite having a visual indicator.
The Fomantis went down to fire despite the rain. That should tell you what we're dealing with.
...I am moderately alarmed by this conclusion. You don't mean that paradise, do you?
Team Skull's failure to have completed the Island Challenge haunts them even now. This line does make one wonder whether it's a failure of effort or a failure of skill- I had always believed it the latter, but the former offers different insights into what to take away from this.
Carnivine is a pretty funny Pokemon- it's a floating Venus Fly Trap with the Levitate Ability. Its stats aren't great and it's availability in the games its in are even worse, but fortunately, we won't have to worry about that on account of the fact we can't get Carnivine at all. Still, though, it's cool, and wouldn't mind trying to use one.
Rattata and Raticate, like a true member of Team Rocket. This was the only mon I missed a shot of in Bethany's file, so it's worth mentioning- USUM shakes up a lot of the Skull Grunts around here. This did not change the challenge posed by these Skulls one jot. Of the four (well, three) Trainers we have thus far faced, their USUM teams compose Rattata, Haunter, Mareanie, Grimer and Ekans.
I noticed that a lot of the Rattata I fought here were faster than me and liked to use Double Edge. The Raticate preferred Crunch, often making them less dangerous. The Rattata didn't do much to Lord Huggington, but it's a little more intimidating if you don't pack Fluffy.
Carnivine is cool.
Zygarde Cell in SM, Totem Sticker behind a tiny rock in USUM. It's not even the first time they hid a Totem Sticker behind a tiny rock, but it kinda makes me surprised they never did it with the Zygarde Cells, now I see them both here at once.
Walking too close to the front door triggers a battle with these two Skull Grunt guards. It is possible to get to that Berry Tree behind them without, but it does require active thought.
You'd think they'd recognise that by my island challenge amulet, not the Z-Ring. People who aren't currently on their Island Challenge can have that.
Now granted, I'm in Island Challenge age, but still. Worth noting there.
Considering how important it is to Team Skull's legacy and characterisation, I'm kind of surprised how low-key this reveal is- USUM even kinda moved the reveal over to Melemele, by having Hau comment on it. You'd think something this relatively important would come up in at least a permanent NPC dialogue or two, or perhaps one of Guzma or Plumeria's comments.
Our arrival is precluded by, of all things, an actual Double Battle with two Skull Grunts!
Drowzee and Haunter in SM, Scraggy and Pawniard in USUM. At least the latter is giving you the Dex entries for those two so you know to go looking for them in the grass you're never directed to cross.
I'm not 100% sure if the recurring Drowzee guy is supposed to be found here, but this guy could technically qualify!
Shadow Sneak and Bug Buzz are all these two cuddle-bugs needed.
Nice! Dazzling Gleam is an 80 BP Special Fairy move that hits both targets in Doubles. It is also the Fairy move used by most as a coverage option- its power is a little shaky, but the same could be said about Shadow Ball. With both Bug Buzz and this, Razzly's dual STAB is set.
In the context of other remarks, and to some extent this one, I have to wonder if Skull has failed the Island Challenge, or just got bored. Either that, or the protag is more privileged than the plot indicates.
Either way, we have not endeared themselves to people who have defined themselves as having failed to achieve the thing we are handily succeeding at, and they childishly respond by telling us to get lost.
They appear to have forgotten the part where I have been ordered to go to Po Town to collect the Yungoos they stole.
Our stalled quest is supplemented by the appearance of this fellow, a man who has hitherto not been present in the story. Although you might be forgiven for wondering whether he's a nostalgia character, no, he's original.
He is, in fact, the resident of the police office right outside, and he has come to question us about our decision to go run up to Team Skull's base. For entirely valid reasons, admittedly.
He apparently does this to everybody who isn't already in Team Skull, even the new applicants. Considering the social lives Team Skull leads, some degree of confidence in the lifestyle is required.
If you say "Maybe", he actually ejects you from the conversation. He really is testing your conviction and not just paying lip service.
If you tell him you are prepared to fight Team Skull, he won't question you any further. He feels responsibility to the reckless, but not so much that he'll put in any effort to talking us out of the idea. If we're this convinced to try, no argument he is willing to make will persuade us to step down, and thus he's not going to waste either of our times trying.
Apparently, he's on good enough terms with Skull that he can do this. Or perhaps he is willing to express this authority by force, and is strong enough that Skull cannot object.
Either way, he clearly has a key to get inside the place.
This line is probably more to characterise him than a genuine reflection of the risks we face. From what we've gathered of Guzma, he and Team Skull are unlikely to do more than your average high school bully, and even that seems a bit beyond them. However, this guy can often be found in the story making extreme comments with little basis in fact.
With that said, this is a Pokemon game, a joke about Team Skull doing a murder seems a tad over the top for the target market.
Was it what you were expecting?
I was summoned here by... actually, I probably should have asked that question before I arrived. Who did ask me to come here?
Barbaracle is a Rock/Water type Pokemon based on barnacles first introduced in the Kalos region. It cannot be found in SM, but does appear in USUM.
Although I do wonder what this line was in Japanese. ガメノデス and バリケード are substantially less similar when said aloud. Honestly, I'd probably have made the English joke "Raticate", in spite of my preference for non-Kanto references.
Team Skull may be idiots, but they are at least smart enough to recognise the fact that they are better served keeping us at arms' length.
Also, the fact they've put up a plank of wood graffitied to look like an Island Challenge barricade probably means they're at least proud of it.
Wanna bet?
Relatively similar Rotom comments this time. Anyway, I think I will quickly take the Skull Grunts up on that offer.
Po Town is a Fly point after entering it for the first time, and there's something I need to quickly grab.
This Berry Tree contains Pecha, Rawst, Sitrus, Lum, and Leppa Berries, and the big piles can give you Ganlon Berries. Ganlon Berries raise your Def by one stage when you drop below 1/4 HP- a pitiful bonus, really. Their strength in series history is mostly being a really nice Berry with which to grow Dry Pokeblocks and Poffins, necessary items to evolve Feebas back before the Prism Scale existed.
(As an aside, this is actually the first pile to give Lum Berries as a normal find- before now, we've got them from big piles only.)
Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled Po Town storming.
These guys simply repeat their claims that you are helpless against them.
I think this sign is more useful. Although if you've gotten this far, I imagine you're already well aware of what you'll find in here.
There's even litter items, although their value continues to meld together.
The west side, of course, contains a small hole we can easily crawl through. Although perhaps an adult might find this a bit more difficult an obstacle.
I am doing a good deed. Something I'm sure you kids could stand to try out.
...
Mate. It's a Spinarak. Even if you had evolved it, it wouldn't be much of a threat.
If nothing else, this is the best ending quote of a Team Skull Grunt in the entire Po Town sequence. And possibly ever.
Complacent, perhaps. Your problem was that you were caught with your pants down.
His buddy comes more adequately prepared with a Grimer (nerfed to a Trubbish in USUM), and must be fought in direct sequence.
Grimer can make good use of that, owing to the mismatch between Spinarak counters and Grimer counters in most toolkits. The problem is that they're not strong enough individually for this to be a problem.
Sometimes you pity them. And then you remember this instinctive reaction is because that's how they treat people who lose to them. Whenever they are lucky enough to have such people.
If you don't want to be besieged by heroic bystanders, don't kidnap little kids' pets and challenge the strongest girl you know to rescue them from your clutches. Most of us learned that before eleven.
"Something bad in the heart of Po Town" is a little strong, Rotom. Although this certainly isn't the sort of environment to inspire confidence in one's heart.
Best wishes, you arrogant fools.
Here we have one of the series' most remarkable locations in the series- what appears to be a functional Pokemon Centre. Keyword- appears.
On the inside, the place is dimly lit, staffed by Skull Grunts, and the Cafe and Mart are not staffed at all.
The map considers this a Pokemon Centre and labels it on the map like all other Centres, but, rather amusingly, it is the only Pokemon Centre in this game that you cannot Fly to.
The Grunts start rapping at us rather than taking a more aggressive position, although I do find myself amused by their choice in Pokemon. "Darker than Darkrai" refers to a Mythical Pokemon (albeit one that has a story role without acquiring a Darkrai personally in DPPt), and they proceed to use Fearow as a frame of reference for fear. This is probably for the rhyming scheme, but surely there's something scarier than a middle-of-the-road aggressive Normal/Flying when you already mentioned the Pokemon that passively spreads nightmares.
At least someone is.
Huh. I didn't realise Spinda had the presence of mind to be able to follow a conversation like that.
Now then, let's talk about this place, and how absolutely astounding a world-building tool this is for both Team Skull... and Pokemon Centres.
For Team Skull, their particular brand on wanton hedonism has cut this Pokemon Centre off from the nebulous system that causes Pokemon Centres to function, and they must maintain it themselves, out of pocket. And, because of Team Skull's complete and utter failure to accomplish anything that makes them money, this is not something they can do carelessly.
And for Pokemon Centres, there's something amazing about how this utter ruin of a building, unsupported by any official infrastructure, can still do a total party HP/PP restore for five percent of the price of a standard Poke Ball.
Pokemon, as a children's franchise that only occasionally references upper-primary school subjects, hasn't gone into much, if any, detail to elaborate on how similar its world deals with the real world's relationship to scarcity. The plots of the main antagonists of XY and SwSh suggest that the developers believe their worlds face similar potential crises to ours at some point in the nebulous future. But this one moment suggests the opposite- that the improvements to the world Pokemon have offered have completely trivialised healthcare.
The cost will be deducted from your pocket, but they will willingly do this as many times as you ask them to. We may be enemies, but they deserve props for keeping the power on.
...Is that the same symbol used for Pokemon Sword? Probably just a coincidence...
Anyone keeping count on the number of Pokemon not in the Alola Dex being referenced? Slaking is available in the vanilla SM by Island Scan, although it was replaced in USUM.
Should you refuse Team Skull's healing services for any reason, this is how they'll scold you. I can't tell if they plan direct revenge or are just thinking of the injuries we'll sustain from dealing with so many Skull Grunts. Possibly they mean both.
I have no idea what you're dreaming about, but count me out.
...And the less said about this being right next door, the better.
I'm highlighting these Totem Stickers for one particular reason: Po Town is stuffed with Totem Stickers. Team Skull's alluded-to meddling in the Totem Sticker hunt has a payoff- in addition to all the various Island Trial theming scattered around with the barricades and something we'll see later, Team Skull has been collecting Totem Stickers to stick around wherever takes their fancy. I notice the ones around here also tend to be placed more sloppily (in-universe) compared to the ones that look like an actual Trial Captain has stuck them in place- you can see upside-down ones and so on here.
There are nine Totem Stickers in Po Town. Out of 100. This is compared to eleven in each of Hau'oli and Heahea (not counting Hano for Heahea) and eight in Malie. Considering how much smaller Po Town is than Hau'oli and Heahea (both in terms of acreage and attractions), you can feel the density.
That looks like it should be a drawing that looks like somthing, but I can't tell what, if anything, it is.
They've got three of these things deployed.
There's a Grunt here in USUM, and apparently he had the chance to go to France. It's not a major part of his characterisation, sadly, but it is cool to see the villain exchange program.
He does, however, reference Ilima's time in Kalos's school. I'm still rather confounded by the whole idea of Kalos being notable for its schooling.
Going up the east side to bypass this barricade gets you another Skull Double Battle.
This does give one a good idea why teamwork isn't happening here- this is a competition to them.
...At least I can see both of these Pokemon doing well?
Razzly went for the Dazzling Gleam. The spread damage penalty prevented it from dealing with the Raticate, though.
So, uh, Golbat didn't try throwing the Poison moves at the Fairy.
I'll be quite honest, I'm not sure which of you was which.
Well, that's as good an explanation as any.
Only thing back here is a prize for it.
You want progress, you've gotta take the west route again. Cool Wimpod.
It's a Game Boy! Plus whatever it is I'm standing on.
The Skull Grunt standing on the truck is actually a Trainer, although his dialogue confounds me.
At least there's male Skull Grunts that carry more than one Pokemon.
Unfortunately, this guy is not available for further discussion. I remain confused.
X does not mark the spot. This is just a pattern.
They outright can't hit on opponents with a higher level than you. There's next to no reason to gamble on them even if they do have value- the odds are 30% with level parity, incidentally.
And even thern, I'm not sure how much help that will be for you.
To get past the third barricade, you walk over a bit of fence on the west side.
Humourously, it means you bypass all three barricades from the west.
I'll give you points for talking about your Pokemon, but it's a Wimpod. It only has two attacks.
Although fun fact, USUM actually doesn't have any Trainers that use Wimpod. You have to catch your own to add it to your Pokedex.
...
I concede, that is a good counterargument. But still.
Sadly, her post-battle lines don't quite make as much sense compared to her opener. The Trainer density doesn't seem to be working in their favour.
This Skull Grunt declines to fight us to try and alert this guy to our presence. In futility. They can't even organise themselves in their own squalor.
...The Skull Grunt at the front? Miss, he had a Spinarak.
The freebie Smoke Ball. I'm always amazed how late these are. Oh well, at least this means Beth and Ailey can start running away from fights for free.
Zygarde Cell by this truck. Because it's not just Totem Stickers that show up here.
This feels like a line that should be delivered as a pre-battle line.
At the far end of Po Town is what is defined as a separate area, the Shady House. It's more Team Skull Grunts, a puzzle, and some miscellaneous items.
Very fitting as part of the narrative design, but it kinda feels like we should've got random Skull Grunts sooner than this.
You say that, but no other Skull Grunt uses three Pokemon. Hell, even Guzma doesn't- well, he doesn't in SM.
They're all fairly underdeveloped and share a Poison typing, but there are three of them! Besides, if you wanted to be a Poison expert, you could do worse than this.
...Plumeria is using two of these three.
Most incomplete things are missing an ending. Although the ending is a relatively easy thing to conceive.
Joining Team Skull seems to have done you some good socially, even if it is of questionable value morally.
Another Skull Grunt patrolling the halls back here, this one with only one Pokemon to her name.
...So what happens if I knock the Shady House over?
Hm... 100 BP, 90% accurate Physical Fighting move that lowers the user's Speed on use. There are worse moves, one can suppose.
...I wasn't expecting her to mention it! I think this is unrelated to the fact that I used an earthshaking move.
...I was going to ask if he applied before or after the cutoff at age 20, but it occurs to me this plot takes on a particularly poignant point if Guzma applied after the age 20 cutoff, because he couldn't have applied sooner. Not that the characters question if they could learn from this.
The west exit is a relatively important one, for several reasons, although this is almost entirely for items.
It also has the punchline to that other Grunt earlier- the other guy is trying to inform him that they are under attack, and he is failing to notice.
Under this pavillion is an Ice Stone, which allows you to evolve Vulpix or Sandshrew without needing to get one from Poke Pelago. Noah used a Pelago Ice Stone for Lanz, while Bethany had Pelago Stones for Keokeo if she so needed.
The Ice Stone was introduced in SM, and in these games, there are no other valid Pokemon that can use it. Crabrawler, Eevee and Cetoddle have since been added, making it a more equal Stone, but they don't work in this game.
There's a Tauros rock to break here, revealing my favourite joke they make of the Totem Stickers- three of them stuck on top of one another. Team Skull is having a lot of fun here.
All the Totem Stickers being given to us here in Po Town means we've also hit our 80 threshold.
This is only in USUM, although the little arrow indicating it is in both games. Weird, that.
...I've beat your boss. (If you want to get through to him, you need to beat the Guzma fight here in Po Town. I'll get back to him later- this update is already way too long.)
There's also a Grimer in the pool sometimes. It's not the only randomly appearing Pokemon, although it's the one I got in these runs.
Both Ray and Ailey get a Mimikyu from 80 Totem Stickers. I'm mostly mentioning it now because, well...
Ray's actually going to be using it! Funny how that's Ray's third double, and second with Bethany. My justification for double-dipping on Mimikyu is because it got a buff in USUM that has some funny applications.
The Totem, as compared to the vanilla form, has the benefit of being heavier, and taking less damage from Heavy Slam. This isn't a good benefit, and also means it loses out on Shadow Sneak. I'm OK with that because it helps Brave Bernie be distinct from Bernie-Bear. Although yes, I am taking the mick by naming them both after Bernadetta.
Our next objective is to go looking around the various rooms.
This surprisingly clean room (one of only two clean rooms in the mansion) is a dormitory of some kind, and we are unable to sleep on the empty bed or talk to the Grunt who's manspread his way into double-bedding. We can get a nice item from stopping by, though.
The top room is a storeroom, containing only one thing of note- a note!
Our objective to get to Guzma is to find three passwords. These are the same every playthrough, although SM and USUM have different passwords.
This is the door we need to make our way through.
It sounds like Guzma's decision not to use Z-Moves is a personal handicap. With that said, because of the way his kit is set up, Golisopod might like to have Savage Spinout more than most- it would let him fire off a second Bug move from Golisopod without switching out.
Delibird cann sometimes appear in here, dropping from the chimney like Santa Claus. I am so sad I didn't get one to spawn.
...Credit where credit is due, that is an actually intimidating choice.
And although it doesn't really play to its own strengths, it's absolutely clowning on Cranky. Sucker Punch doesn't get to work because Cranky went second, even though Haunter used an attacking move.
And as soon as I switch out, I lose the Normal immunity and get hit by the actually good move in her kit. Yeah, she deserves credit.
I take it you wanted to be a chef? You any good at that?
This feels like something that should've had at least an off-hand comment sooner. Guzma fancies himself something of a Bug-type Trial Captain, and in order to make himself come across like that, one of the things Team Skull has been doing is artificially giving Guzma a monopoly on his chosen type specialty.
This short hallway has nothing but a Totem Sticker. It just separates the room with a fireplace from the kitchen.
The kitchen looks like it hasn't been used. Team Skull has 100% subsisted on a diet of takeout from whatever companies are OK with allowing Team Skull to patronise them.
The Heal Powder is probably sketch.
The password in the kitchen, fittingly, is a food item, although it's the same food item between SM and USUM.
That second bit on the page is also important to keep in mind.
That's everything on 1F, now time for 2F. Imagine how short this dungeon would be if they cleaned up that chandelier on the stairs.
Yes, I do have an invitation. Did you forget that part? I'm starting to worry the answer is yes.
This guy has the other Wimpod in SM. He has the one Scraggy in USUM.
Yep, they've forgotten we were invited here. Which is weird, because that was pretty important to the plot, and will be after we're done.
Alternatively, this guy is just an idiot. I'm not ruling that out.
This guy, at the front here, is the guy we need to bypass with the passwords. We're still one short for now.
This bedroom, in the northwest, is almost certainly Plumeria's, considering it's got all the kit she needs to maintain her particular appearance, and also because it's one of the only regularly tidied rooms in the house. The fact they have a clean dormitory kinda dulls the impact of Plumeria keeping a clean room, although I can guess Plumeria did manage to jump down the Skull's throats at least once. At least she can get them to listen to her.
Aww... although she'd probably kill me for that reaction.
The TM she's keeping is a rather fitting one- it's Sludge Bomb, the most common Special Poison coverage move. 90 BP means it's pretty good, although only hitting Grass and Fairy SE can make it hard to justify using that slot on Poison.
Going in the middle door puts you in the middle of these two Team Skull Grunts and an argument.
If the hygiene problems of living in permarain weren't bad enough...
They're all the same design. You lot are uniformed punks. As oxymoronic as that is.
I mean... how did you tell whose was whose after laundry day?
...You... did have laundry day, right?
...The fact that this is apparently literally true and not, as fans commonly interpreted, just the evil teams hiding their names for reasons of "not getting in trouble with the law" raises questions about the evil teams in general and Team Skull in specific. I thought you guys were a found family in the face of a system that rejected you?
After a short bit of rapping as argument, the grunts pause and realise they've been yelling at each other in front of someone.
For Bethany and Ailey, she gets a moment of embarrassment borne of a desire to impress and uses that as the basis of her argument for attacking us in retribution.
For Noah, this embarrassment angle is absent entirely. Grunt is starting to sound particularly lesbian here.
In both games, you get a Rattata from Grunt A and then a Raticate from Grunt B, in separate fights. Glad to see they still can't work together.
And even more glad to see Rattata is the scary one of the two.
Don't we all wish we could take back that cringe thing we said in front of our crushes.
Grunt B picks up exactly enough compassion for her friend to pick a fight with us, and not one ounce more. I'd say I respected it, but I typically draw the line here.
The Rattata prefers Double Edge, the Raticate prefers Crunch. Crunch is far easier to resist, especially by the types that can hit Raticate SE.
I can imagine no greater shame than having to justify your failure on your previous crimes.
...You have to buy your own uniforms?
Dang, girl, unionise.
Bottom door leads to the rec room, with a Trainer, a note, and one of the odder moments from an environmental perspective.
Well, no, but I need to find the passwords to your boss and you left one of the memos in here. I mean, I could have had them memorised, but...
I don't think that is something you want to say when your only Pokemon is Fomantis.
Merriam-Webster defines "Cosmopolitan" as "having wide international sophistication : worldly". While I can describe a cosmopolitan person as having good taste, this is a values judgement and the two ideas are only linked because I, personally, value worldliness.
I don't think you can describe a species as cosmopolitan, only a specimen.
The rec room contains not just one, but two Wii Us. I imagine that's the only way they can get onto the same team in Splatoon.
While Pokemon has a long and proud tradition of putting the most recent Nintendo console in the player's bedroom, it's rather unusual to find the console in another location. It's also kinda weird to think of Team Skull as being particularly poor if they can afford two Wii Us- although one notices they haven't upgraded to Switches for USUM. As fitting as it is that Team Skull can't immediately upgrade, it just makes it more surprising that they have Wii Us when the model otherwise doesn't exist elsewhere in the game- I imagined, when Ailey got her Switch, they just replaced the Wii U model rather than making a new one.
The item was an Iron. Not remarkable.
The passwords for SM and USUM. Golisopod, really? Might as well just save us all the trouble and tell us the password is swordfish.
(There doesn't seem to be a swordfish Pokemon yet- the best candidates are a Pokemon inspired by them here in Alola, and Gorebyss bears a passing resemblance.)
Right, time to give the three passwords.
The theme of the passwords in SM, which comes up when they are asked, is to guess what Guzma's favourite move and Pokemon are. All three of those moves are pretty fitting choices for him, but you can tell he's a Golisopod guy from looking at 'im.
In USUM, the passwords have the same theme, but are instead based on Plumeria's likes. This makes the first question more informative (well, it would if Poison Gas wasn't clearly not the correct answer), and it also gives Plumeria a bit of characterisation. You genuinely wouldn't expect Plumeria's favourite member of the dominatrix Pokemon line to be the helpless mangosteen at the very start by looking at her.
Both Guzma and Plumeria are Tapu Cocoa drinkers. Of the two, the only one I can imagine drinking tea is Plumeria, and even then it's not like I expect that of her. Neither of them strike me as Moomoo Milk fans.
You are not told the correct answers to the passwords as the come. You must answer all four questions first.
Wait, four?
Remember the Tapu Cocoa memo? Team Skull are a bunch of contrarians who would sooner see the sun rise in the west than submit to any sort of authority, including their own. You never give a straight answer.
He'll turn you away if you express confidence in your answers or if you got a password wrong, but he won't battle you in either circumstance.
Our path to Guzma is now mostly open. There's one more optional Trainer to bump into, but if we wanted, we could beeline.
USUM: Hey, good job on the quizzz, kid! I admit I had no idea what to say... S-so, now all we need to do is find the boss in Po Town... Zzt...
As passwords for Team Skull go, personal info on the bosses isn't the worst idea. It's better than 12345, I'll give it that. Besides, do you think Team Skull is smart enough to memorise mA47)nf3/na,[e1`2Po?
...I understand the whole "never accept authority" thing, but at no point in assembling this outside plank of wood did it occur to anyone that maybe they should have reconsidered not clearing the chandelier off the stairs?
Funny. I think even if the Escape Rope worked in the Shady House, this outside bit would prevent it from doing its stated job.
This is the optional battle. She's down for romanticism no matter whether you're male or female this time.
You don't have a great reputation.
...I mean, I tend to find the stereotypical "nice views" pretty boring, but I feel like you're missing something if you think the bad view is the environment's fault. What makes this balcony so much better than the rest of the town?
...Come to think of it, this isn't a balcony.
...There was a singular effort. And not a drop more.
And in we enter through the window. Like normal people.
This is a question that is perhaps answered better in hindsight.
I know fear.
I also know courage.
Also, Guzma's actually still a pushover in SM- he hasn't packed a third Pokemon yet. As such, I think we don't need to go through my team's kits, especially since we've got a few bosses in a row coming up.
As a matter of fact, this is going to be even more hilarious than it looks.
Now then... Guzma is waiting.
This looks far more dramatic than it has any right to be.
I'm glad you find the idea of arranging a hostage negotiation and actually having the other person show up amusing, but it's hard to take you seriously when the plot is failing to acknowledge the reason the situation is actually happening.
Now get over yourself, you're not nearly as important as you think you deserve to be.
It's the right thing to do. And I won't hear a word to the contrary, you selfish bastard.
I could, but also I want to do what is right for Lillie because I have a crush on her. If you're telling me to be more selfish, I'm still gonna be helping her.
...Now granted, this isn't directly helping her, but it's close enough!
I thin I could say the same thing in kind. And I'm not convinced I would need to change my term of address, either.
I will grant you, that works way more than it should. I'm not even entirely clear on why. But, uh...
I don't like where this thought is going.
I want to ask "who hurt you", but right now, I feel like I have better priorities. Like not getting "fixed".
As mentioned, Guzma is carrying the same team he was in Malie Garden in SM. He did pick up a third Pokemon in USUM, which was very welcome.
Right, stat-wise... Guzma is mostly running the exact same kit. 31/31/15/15/15/31 IVs, an Adamant Nature, and the moves First Impression, Razor Shell and Swords Dance, but this time he's actually brought the 252 Atk EVs. He's forgotten the other 252, but points for effort.
Last time, Sturm was pretty essential to going toe to toe with Guzma. Let's see how Sturm handles things this time.
Excellent. I think he could've gone for Razor Shell, which Sturm would be worried about, but Swords Dance works in my favour.
Because Ancient Power is just strong enough to chase Golisopod off the field! So much for Swords Dance.
Ariados, like Golisopod, is running the same kit of perfect 31 IVs, 252 EVs in Atk/Spd, Adamant Nature and the moves Fell Stinger, Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak and Infestation. Like last time, I'm not sure what this kit is hoping to accomplish even if it was on a Pokemon better than Ariados.
It took two hits from Sucker Punch to lower Sturm's shields.
Poor Golisopod never stood a chance.
And that is the story of how Sturm soloed Guzma. There's a reason no one's afraid of you in this game.
Cosmic Power is a Psychic Status move that increases Def and Sp. Def by one stage apiece. It's a great move on dedicated tanks, but Sturm's not acting as if he expects to spend an extended time in Meteor Form. If I'm buffing his stats, I want to prepare him for a Core Form sweep, not a Meteor Form tank.
Once again, Guzma's post-battle dialogue has a lot more sportsmanship than his post-battle cutscene.
Admittedly, Guzma does keep to his word. His screaming matches when he lose are self-directed, so perhaps his problem isn't sportsmanship.
We don't actually escort the Yungoos back. It just walks off on its own. We are bad at this whole "rescue" thing.
Guzma's anger bubbles to the surface, and the Grunt standing guard over the Yungoos runs away. He has to turn a corner to do so, which means he stops and pivots on the way. It looks really funny.
Perhaps whoever you ask for help will be able to inform you about the wonders of Heracross.
Guzma walks off, and in order to do so, Bethany must step out of the way. It's another of those things that's funnier than it should be, although it does suggest Bethany's actually got some degree of sportsmanship over Guzma.
...Never expected to hear the word "grody". It means nasty/repellent, and seems to be a US word.
You are actually allowed to sit on Guzma's throne.
And if you do, a Skull Grunt runs up and confuses you with the boss.
I think this has less to do with physical resemblance (or lack thereof), so much as the grunts not expecting to see anyone other than Guzma with the balls to sit here.
Why shouldn't I sit here? I beat your boss.
Rude.
Ailey got a different joke- and one I find funnier. Not sure if that's USUM or RNG, though.
Guzma styled himself a Trial Captain, and for ploughing through the Trial Barricades, solving the puzzle, and defeating the boss lurking at the end of the challenge, we have earned ourselves Buginium Z in this facsimilie of a third Ula'ula Island Trial. This is not counted in Ilima's count, though, the only official Island Trials on Ula'ula are Hokulani and the Abandoned Megamart.
This does mean we're not going to see the move taught by Guzma, although we have already seen Savage Spin-Out (Angry Bird used it in the Araquanid Trial by calling it through Z-Mirror Move).
We have to manually walk back to the Shady House's entrance. In SM, all the Skull Grunts are still here, but even if you haven't defeated them, they will now act as if the are defeated.
In USUM, a lot of Skull Grunts disappear with him. Not all of them, though.
This guy poses the argument that Team Skull is not, as commonly thought, a refuge for Trainers who failed their Island Challenge, but a cult of personality around Guzma's machisimo and Plumeria's hotness. Hau earlier had a line that supported this reading, and one could read this line as denial, but it's certainly a choice in assertion, and one that gets me to start reconsidering that common reading. I mean, Team Skull does consider the Island Challenge their enemy, but thinking it over... couldn't that just be Guzma's personal pettiness?
The Grunt with no self esteem is still here, and he provides an argument for what else Team Skull might represent- a fear of the world that encourages seeking someone with confidence in order to feel like a part of something that makes sense.
In 2017, we had no idea how bad that could get, and by then there was already a cult of personality in power.
On leaving the Shady House, we are confronted with the policeman we met outside. Which explains the inability to Charizard Glide back to the Aether House.
Glad someone caught it before it got onto Route 17 and started making a bid for not returning to the kid.
It was kidnapped.
...Does anyone other than me care about the reason I am here?
He then proceeds to get into yet another of his trademark staring contests. Look, antisocial behaviour doesn't work so well on silent protagonists.
Strangely, this is the order the lines occur in. I'm not sure what would be a hassle before this point in the conversation. Other than, perhaps, the suggestion we think about people other than ourselves.
This line makes more sense if we know who this man is, sort of, but he's happy leaving us to our business.
In both games, he heals your team after he says the line in which he claims to heal you. Only USUM uses the correct tense.
The fact that the Grunts all leave in USUM seems to be so they can support this comment.
They're a cult of personality. They won't quit that easily.
Although that raises the question of where they went.
Finally, a name for this fellow. And it seems he's related to Acerola, in some way.
I've heard that Acerola and Nanu aren't actually related, although I've found no evidence Hawai'i actually uses "uncle" as a term of endearment. I have, however, found evidence that Hawai'ians don't have a dedicated word for Uncle, Brother of your Parent. As far as Hawai'ians are concerned, you address all adult relatives who aren't your parents the same way.
Acerola, in true Acerola fashion, completely ignores Nanu to focus on the part of this conversation she cares about- her friend's stolen Pokemon.
You're welcome, Acerola.
...Say, who's still at Aether House?
Acerola has noticed the fact that Nanu stepping in to be helpful has... not gone the way one might hope.
Seriously, there's a police station right outside and Nanu has done nothing to prevent or otherwise hinder this blatant kidnapping. What is he doing if he's not keeping tabs on these guys?
Of course he is.
...
Wait, you're renting?
I get that, but who owns the property? I get the feeling the owner is walking away from this arrangement happy, though. No other way he's make a return on investment.
I'd find that easier to believe if Nanu accomplished something.
Hahahaha... this line reads a lot differently if you disagree with the premise that the Aether Foundation provides for the Pokemon that Team Skull hurts for altruistic reasons. And said reading does not make Acerola sound like as smart as she think it does.
Thankfully, someone is finally getting around to it. I was getting worried.
Since when has that ever stopped her, Nanu?
(The bright white effect is a thunderbolt).
She legitimately turns, runs, stops and says this, and starts running again. I think the idea was that she's having this conversation while she's running, but Pokemon is unable to portray someone moving and talking at the same time.
Which is frankly embarrassing.
Nanu follows up that potentially enlightening conversation by comparing Team Skull hanging out in Po Town to Pokemon being kept in Poke Balls. Using the phrase "locked up" to mull over this subject does muddle the idea on whether he's saying both of them enjoy it or resent it, though. Thanks to BW, we know Pokemon has an interest in the idea that the former assertion refers to an enjoyable experience, and one can draw the conclusion that Team Skull enjoys their camaraderie even if the rest of the world does not.
I still can't tell if this is meant to be aspirational for Skull or right hand biting the left hand on the dev team.
Well then. That was certainly a conversation.
Next time: We see if Guzma puts up a fight if he's not relying on Ariados.
No comments:
Post a Comment