When heading to the postgame area in SM, there is a battle between the Fly point outside Vast Poni Canyon and Poni Grove. What I missed until doing Noah's run is that you can actually bypass it by flying from the Ruins of Hope. I'll not be doing that, but I highly recommend you do. Seriously... this first fight has teeth.
Especially if you're using a cycling team and don't want to use the Hall of Famers. We're going to be looking down the barrel of some huge level gaps, and Woodstock's fantastic typing for this battle isn't going to be enough to carry him to victory.
And Razzly, well... she's going to try her best.
As it turns out, Shell Trap is a fantastic move if you know your opponent has no choice but to trigger it. Jigsaw sees her chance and is prepared to take it.
Oatchi is here because I desperately need some power on a... decent level. Our opponent is still high above Oatchi's level, though.
Disguise is going to be worth its weight in gold, were its weight not less than a kilogram.
K9 has one job: Click Accelerock. Crunch if it's feeling brave, but I don't think Stealth Rock is going to help enough.
The battle will automatically occur when you walk too close to this pathway here. When the cutscene starts, it's too late- you won't be given the option to stop and reconsider.
And to add insult to injury, the opponent we're so scared of is these losers.
Hey, I'm still a ways off from getting access to all the cells. I mean, the postgame should bridge the gap, but...
Oh, have you now? On your own, or with Kukui? I'm gonna say, don't reinvent the wheel.
...Where did Mega Evolution come from? We've been talking the Z-Ring up until now! Mega Evolution is the signature mechanic of XY, although of the signature mechanics up until now, it was by far the least relevant to the main story- an occupational hazard of being limited only to a few species.
"Oh, by the way, would you like to fight my Mega-Evolved Pokemon? No? What kind of trainer are you?"
Unlike the earlier battle in Heahea City, the only opponent that will appear here is Dexio, regardless of version. There is an Ice type capable of Mega Evolution in the SM Pokedex, I'm not sure what their problem with giving us a stronger Sina fight is. Dexio uses a full team of five Psychic types, each with Elite Four-quality IVs, two 252 EVs, and Serious Natures. It's also worth mentioning that, while this fight only exists here in SM, this exact fight with Dexio got moved somewhere else for USUM. It may be less convenient there.
While Dexio is still using the default Trainer theme in-game, I would like to take the time to shill his Masters EX theme, which came out while this blog run was going. It combines the Defenders of Kalos theme with the XY Trainer theme, and works well for him.
Espeon has 31/15/15/15/15/31 IVs, 252 EVs in Sp. Atk/Spd, the Synchronise Ability, and the moves Psychic, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, and Power Swap. Aside from Power Swap, this is basically mono-Psychic toolkit .png, and it is not to be underestimated- Shadow Ball and Dazzling Gleam cover Psychic's two best answers.
The real issue with Dexio is that he is level 61. Kukui, in comparison, was level 56-58. Presumably, we are intended to go do the other thing in postgame before going to the Battle Tree, like we are, but still.
The move Power Swap trades the user's Atk and Sp. Atk stages with those of its target. For some reason, Espeon seems to like using this move. It would theoretically punish attempts to set-up sweep, except it goes first and only really likes using it Turn 1.
Defeating Dexio took me several tries, the first of which gave Woodstock the Expert Belt. I took it off him, and look at how I have been punished for it.
Fortunately, Dazzling Gleam was not able to oneshot. It didn't even do that much.
Raichu has 15/15/15/31/15/31 IVs, 252 EVs in Sp. Atk/Spd, the Surge Surfer Ability, and the moves Thunderbolt, Psychic, Reflect, and Light Screen. That lack of coverage is going to be its downfall, but something that sets Screens when it realises it's outmatched is far scarier than something that waves the white flag when it realises it's outmatched.
That's the sort of numbers I'm happy to see going in. T-Bolt is going to do plenty, but I could see things going well. If I'm lucky.
Reflect is... well, it's not the worst outcome?
It's pretty bad, though.
Fortunately, I can take a T-Bolt enough to land a Crunch.
It's pretty much all I've got, but I can.
Slowking has an IV set of 31/15/15/15/15/15, 252 EVs in HP and Sp. Atk, the Own Tempo Ability, and the moves Psychic, Power Gem, Ice Beam, and Flamethrower. An adept palette of moves that can hit a lot of surprising Pokemon super-effectively (there is no combination of types that can resist all four moves), one thing I notice he's not carrying is a Water move. It's not a problem for him, but when it comes up, he'll be kicking himself.
Slowking is slow, so you should be able to outspeed even from this far back. With Reflect up, though, this is not what Woodstock would call "worth it".
First defeat. Woodstock took out two Pokemon, but he's the only one immune to STAB. This could still be close.
I had so much hope for Razzly. Slowking is better Specially Defensively, admittedly, but really, I think the other two opponents are worse for Razzly.
And now she is on fire.
If nothing else, that was good for burning some Reflect time, even if the scoreboard is now more even.
Leaf Blade can successfully KO, and we can start dealing with the scarier stuff...
Metagross. 15/31/31/15/15/15 IVs, 252 EVs in Atk/Def, the Clear Body Ability, and the moves Meteor Mash, Zen Headbutt, Bullet Punch and Brick Break. Metagross continues to be an absolutely terrifying opponent, and one for whom we would like to be prepared. He also happens to be the only source of Physical damage on this team- if you can get a Light Screen, I'd consider it, but do remember that Brick Break can break those screens.
Do you see what I see? An opponent that is not only Physically biased, but every move is Physical? So long as Jigsaw can take a Physical hit- not a hard task- Shell Trap is guaranteed to trigger.
Jigsaw still takes the damage, but in exchange...
150 BP Special Fire. Shell Trap may not be the best move for sweeping or Shell Smash, but it is absolutely fun to see working.
Alakazam is not only standing in an updraft, but has stolen Slowking's second 31 IV. 15/15/15/31/31/31 IVs, 252 EVs in Sp. Atk/Spd, the Synchronise Ability, and the moves Psychic, Psyshock, Focus Blast, and Energy Ball, Alakazam is really showing his age in these moves, but this is definitely an opponent worth taking seriously. It is holding the Alakazite item, and Dexio is planning on showing us what that does.
Mega Alakazam (Sun): As a result of Mega Evolution, its power has been entirely converted into psychic energy, and it has lost all strength in its muscles.
A Pokemon holding a Mega Stone may undergo Mega Evolution at a time of the user's choosing (all enemy Megas will do so immediately, and you should probably follow their example, but there are valid tactical reasons not to), transforming into their Mega Form for the duration of the battle (even if switched out). A Mega-Evolved Pokemon enjoys an additional 100 points in BST, and will have a static Ability regardless of the Ability of the original Pokemon. Mega Stones follow and break the same item rules as Z-Crystals in battle- things like not being able to be Knocked Off and so forth.
Mega Alakazam knows exactly what to do with that +100 BST- +40 to Sp. Atk, +30 to Spd, with +20 to Def and +10 to Sp. Def to accompany it. Its Ability is Trace, copying the Ability of whatever it sees. Fortunately for us, Trace can't copy Disguise, so it'll have to wait to show us that.
Funnily enough, in XY, Mega Alakazam is the only Mega-Evolved Form that does not have +100 BST over the original- Alakazam gained a new-to-XY +10 Sp. Def buff that the Mega-Evolved Form seems to have forgotten to account for. They've fixed that for SM- and yes, it's the +10 Sp. Def buff they added.
Getting hit by an attack coming off a 175 base Sp. Atk is not my favourite past-time- in SM, this is the fifth-strongest Sp. Atk stat you can get, beat only by Deoxys and other Megas. We'll have to get creative to avoid this damage with the other kids.
Fortunately, +20 Def to Alakazam is not actually doing that much. Its bulk is still 55/65- I've complained about Physical bulks better that.
You were definitely one brutal fight. I feel like I'd like a Sina opponent just because Ice would be easier to handle in this situation.
...Actually, I'm not sure that's necessarily the case.
I love how you still had to explain that. The Key Stone part is an important note to keep in mind- although we can't get any Mega Stones until we get a Key Stone, if we were to somehow acquire some, we wouldn't be able to perform Mega Evolution without it. We can, as it happens, acquire two Mega-capable Pokemon before now- Diancie in USUM with the guy in Konikoni, and Rayquaza knowing Dragon Ascent thanks to the Seafolk tutor.
As far as I can tell, using a Key Stone has very little to do with Trainer skill. Now, the game does imply that mastering Mega Evolution requires actually being good at being a Trainer, but this is something that can be learned.
All we need is the Key Stone.
Dexio finally decides to have a straightforward thought, and gives us a Key Stone to allow us to trigger Mega Evolution.
In XY, Key Stones were usually attached to accessories, and described in terms of their accessory- Calem and Serena carry "Mega Rings", and Brendan and May carry "Mega Bracelets". Ours is just a Key Stone, although it's implied (sadly, in this game, not shown) to be mounted to our Z-Ring.
We also get a free Alakazite to go along with it, complete with the special chime used for Mega Stones and only Mega Stones in XY. For most people, I assume this is a pretty terrible reward- you have to trade to own an Alakazam to use it on. We'll find other Mega Stones elsewhere.
I can only assume the reason Sina doesn't fight us in Moon is that they don't want to make the freebie Mega Stone version-exclusive, too. Also, to be fair, Glalie's Mega Evolution wasn't available in XY (it was added in ORAS), so maybe they didn't want Sina using a Hoenn Mega? I strongly dislike this reasoning.
"The strong bonds of friendship allow Pokemon to unleash their hidden depths" is the lore reasoning for both Mega Evolution and Z-Moves. Something that strikes me as strange is that Dynamax and Terastal do not receive the same justification. Clearly, though, the same skills are needed to master them all.
And that's the last Bethany'll see of Sina and Dexio, I think. They do have a bit more for Ailey, but we'll need to encounter them in USUM first.
The Key Stone Key Item. Sometimes I wish you got to choose to which part of your body you attached it to, but in XY, the Trainer animates when they use Mega Evolution.
SM does not do that, not even for the PC.
Anyway, USUM has a bit of a story sequence to look into here before we're allowed into the postgame area. I'll try to not do as much as I can, but I have limits.
I disavow any responsibility for what Necrozma may or may not have done to lure them here.
Wicke is also taking her time to acknowledge us both- us with the tangible achievement, and Hau with something worth writing about home about too.
Thanks for the help, Wicke, but we're more sort of suppressing an outbreak rather than looking into their whole deal.
For "supporting us how we can", a free status heal isn't much. The UBs we're worried about don't even really carry status moves- Ray's can inflict Burn, but it'll very much not be what it's trying to do.
You want my spare? It'll be gathering dust in my bag.
Since Gladion is not around to distribute Type: Null to Ailey, Wicke will be doing that. Ray thanks you kindly.
Just as a hunch! The fact there are only three of those total isn't relevant or anything.
We also get the Memories, too. I like how Wicke humours Gladion's name for Silvally without skipping a beat.
I think this line feels better when it's coming from Gladion personally. Wicke's not a bad author of the line, but Gladion's the one that rebelled with the other Type: Nulls.
Apparently Wicke agrees, because she then attributes that sentiment to Gladion.
I'd say Hau wouldn't be a horrible choice for a recipient of a Type: Null, but also I don't think Hau would actually enjoy the process of making friends with one. He's friendly to some prickly characters, but I feel like his sympathy would dry up quick if Type: Null lashed out violently at him- something Gladion, Guzma, and Lillie didn't do.
I'd like to see it. I want to know which one of you is winning.
It turns out you can pick up Type: Null without committing to Poni Grove. Not that committing is something you have to do in a hurry.
The ambient theme for Poni Grove during this event is There's Trouble. At all other times, it's the same ambient theme as the rest of Poni Island.
Also, there's no dramatic zoom-out of the area in SM at all, so this camera angle is original.
Phyco and Soliera are going to walk us through this.
I don't actually think the codename comes up in-game, but this is for UB-Assembly (Ultra Moon) and UB-Burst (Ultra Sun). UB-Burst's conventional name is Blacephalon.
Being dumped in a strange environment will do that to you.
...How nice of them. But now you've just established that Aether Paradise selling Beast Balls is something they do in-universe and not just a means to allow the player infinite Beast Balls to match the infinite UBs they can catch in USUM, which implies people other than us can buy them.
People other than us shouldn't even be seeing UBs.
Still, with their awesome catch rate, these should be sufficient for today's purposes.
Hau will be helping! No, seriously, he'll be contributing and everything. Sorta.
Whatever it is we do will be enough to put these Stakataka out of their misery, but there are two available for capture and it's in our interests to catch both.
...By catching them in Beast Balls. An attempt was made. Frankly, the rest of the interactions we have with wild Ultra Beasts are even worse.
And return them to their home world, right?
...Ah, who am I kidding, I've got Pokedex entries to fill and Ray needs a Stakataka too.
Look, Hau is helping. He isn't stopping being Hau.
Dulse: There you are. The Ultra Beasts known as Blacephalon are wandering here in Poni Grove.
Zossie: They must be very uneasy being here in a new world. I should know, that's how I was, too.
Dulse: ...I seem to recall your being beside yourself with excitement, Zossie.
Zossie: Moving right along, here are some Beast Balls for you! They're the same ones you can buy at Aether Paradise, but they gave them to us since this is an emergency. Isn't that nice? For you, too, Hau!
Receives Beast Balls
Dulse: We want to gather data that will help us protect the Ultra Beasts. If you would accept the Blacephalon as your partners, it would be of great assistance to us. Oh, and for the record, it seems there are at least three Blacephalon.
Zossie: They're probably nervous, and that makes them rowdy! A battle will help them calm down!
Zossie being in denial about her exposure to another world feels a bit weird. I mean, doesn't that ruin her entire point?
Both Ultra Beasts that can be found here have typings that resist Poison, so even if your Poipole was good, I wouldn't count on it.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Imagine 150 people trying to agree on how to run a community.
Dulse: With our skill level...we won't be much help in resolving anything that might involve a Pokémon battle.
Zossie: Come out, Blacephalon! You want to go home, too, right?
For once, the Ultra Sun duo comes up short.
The wayward Ultra Beasts are found in random encounters around here, and while they'll usually be the encounter you get, it's not a guarantee. I'm not sure what the odds are, though.
Stakataka (Ultra Moon): When stone walls started moving and attacking, the brute's true identity was this mysterious life-form, which brings to mind an Ultra Beast.
UB-Assembly, or Stakataka, is the Ultra Beast's king of Defence. 211 in Def, 131 in Atk, 101 in Sp. Def... and 61 in HP, 13 in Speed. You're being attacked by a walking wall, what did you expect? It's a Rock/Steel type, and therein lies the downside to using this thing: It's not a very good wall. No healing, easily slaughtered by two common double weaknesses, and it barely has the support moves to do something with its limited turns. Stakataka has one job, and the time has long since passed when we were accepting applicants for that job.
I think they left behind the "invasive species" thing when going for the new UBs, basing them instead on creepy things. Not that walking walls are terrible at either job...
They still have their auras, and I can tell immediately that False Swiping this fella is going to be like pulling teeth.
Fortunately, it's got enough Special bulk to take a hit or two.
It's a little irritating to lower its HP, though. At least it is now obtained.
I dunno, Rotom, seems pretty identified to me.
And as for Ray's UB...
Blacephalon (Ultra Sun): It slithers toward people. Then, without warning, it triggers the explosion of its own head. It's apparently one kind of Ultra Beast.
UB-Burst, or Blacephalon, is a Fire/Ghost type that goes instead for the offensive profile. 151/107 Special offences, it is very frail, especially physically, and has decided its solution to that is to blow itself up and take you down with it. Unlike Stakataka, it has its own signature move, Mind Blown- 150 BP Special Fire, using this move will inflict damage equal to half its maximum HP on itself after it is used. This is an explosion, so it can be blocked by Damp, but Blacephalon can be tricky to deal with safely and tricker to catch- but it's probably not taking it down that's the hard part.
This looks like the sort of situation that will go badly in a hurry.
Fortunately, it can only Mind Blown once without KOing itself. Less fortunately, I can make no guarantees it will attempt it. A Damp Poliwrath or something is sounding very nice to have.
Of all places, Blacephalon and Stakataka are actually located after Nihilego, but before the other UBs, in the Pokedex listing. Not that the listing matters that much, but it might cause some errors reading it.
After dealing with your first Stakataka, Hau calls you back here from wherever you were in Poni Grove, and complains he couldn't handle it the first go.
Phyco reassures him that defeating it was enough to mollify it. I'd still like them out of the ecosystem.
Well, that reassures me both immensely and insufficiently. I'm willing to take Lusamine at her word that she'll do as promised, but I am going to be narrowing my eyes suspiciously.
We still need a second one to trade away to Ray, after all.
Goddammit, Hau.
Dulse: But it will now likely keep itself hidden for a while, and it won't attack other Pokémon. We can use this time to gather data and to work with the Aether Foundation to capture it.
Zossie: Hau! Ray! You were both amazing! Let's see... It seems like there are still a few Blacephalon wandering around.
Phyco, Soliera, I don't think you two are on the same page. I also think that Phyco's the one I'm standing behind. We are not bringing more Stakataka here, haven't you heard what happened with Yungoos?
Dulse: I would like to avoid these Ultra Beasts becoming a menace to Alola...
Zossie: Anyone would want to go home if they suddenly found themselves in a strange world...
See, these two get it!
The items around Poni Grove are the same between games, and you can pick them up. In fact, you can do basically everything you want here except hunt for the new finds.
Anyway, a second Stakataka/Blacephalon later...
Hau caught a Stakataka of his own! A round of applause is in order.
As long as Wicke is the one in charge of that project, I'm content.
You're welcome. I'm glad Hau managed to accomplish something too.
I don't think they ever have any story purpose, and I'm not even 100% certain if they're NPCs we can talk to. (From the looks of things, there is dialogue in place, but it's a location you have no reason to go to, so I don't blame me for never finding it).
Zossie: Hau gave us the Blacephalon he caught!
Dulse: This will help us gather data we can use to protect the Ultra Beasts. Perhaps a day will come where the Ultra Beasts will live here in Alola as normal Pokémon.
Zossie: More things for us to research!
Dulse: We are grateful for your help. I'm sure we will meet again...
So much for these two knowing not to meddle with introducing species. Sometimes I wonder if the devs know why introducing Yungoos to Alola was a bad thing.
He says he uses his starter, but whether his starter is a good choice changes from game to game. I would not want to get caught using Decidueye on Blacephalon.
At this point, Ailey is railroaded into completing the opening of the postgame sequence of USUM. In the interests of keeping things straight, we're going to be pretending that didn't happen until I want to cover the whole thing.
Right then, now that USUM no longer has a plot event in the way, we're going to be converging and exploring the islands. Starting with the new encounters in all this grass.
Riolu (Moon): It's tough enough to run right through the night, and it's also a hard worker, but it's still just a youngster.
Available at any time of day in SM and only during daylight hours in USUM is Lucario's pre-evolution, Riolu. Pure Fighting type for now, it gains the Steel type on evolution. As a Riolu, it's got 285 BST and most of it is terrible, but on levelling up with high friendship during the day, it becomes one of the most popular Fighting types around. Its statline is a bit mediocre and its famously broad movepool actually lacks a few of its favourite moves without breeding (if you want a Physical one, you don't get Steel STAB without Egg Moves), but I said I wanted to use one to show Gladion how it's done and Noah is sticking to that.
Riolu's Abilities are Steadfast (+1 Speed every time it flinches) and Inner Focus (immune to flinches). Kinda really sells the mood of using a Lucario, you can't really go wrong with either- but flinches are rare enough that I'd say go for Steadfast. Its HA is Prankster (+1 priority to status moves) as a Riolu, turning into Justified (+1 Atk for being hit with a Dark type move) as a Lucario. I don't really like using Physical Lucario, so I'm not the hugest fan of Justified, but there's one other reason HA isn't really worth it in Alola:
They carry Final Gambit. The move that KOs them.
Quick Balls are the way to go, but if you can, try for the Luxury Ball- that'll make it easier to achieve its evolution condition. Final Gambit is a hell of a way to prevent that, though.
...Aw, that's adorable posing.
Heracross (Ultra Moon): It roams through forests searching for sweet nectar. Although it boasts fantastic physical strength, it's not that good at flying.
USUM also has available one other Pokemon here: the Bug/Fighting type Heracross. Heracross is the king of Bug types: its high Atk, solid-but-not-great Speed, and actually kinda fascinating bulk combined with its defensive profile means that when it sets up, it knocks down its opponents like ninepins. I did a Bug monotype in B2W2, and a lot of fights I struggled with became trivial when I decided to switch to using Heracross instead of something I wanted to get EXP. Whenever Heracross is not on screen, all of the other Bug types should be asking "where's Heracross?". Until now, it has typically been Pinsir's matched opponent on version exclusivity, and the fact Pinsir got a region without it is what allowed Noah's Pinsir time to shine. Its Ultra Sun entry implies it's taken on greater opponents these days- Vikavolt.
Heracross's Abilities are Swarm (+50% Atk/Sp. Atk when using a Bug type move at 1/3 HP or less) and Guts (+50% Atk when inflicted with a non-volatile status condition). Guts is probably the better Ability for it, especially with the Flame Orb. Its real best Ability, though, is its HA Moxie (+1 Atk whenever it lands a KO). This is what my awesome Heracross was using, and while its only decent 85 Speed score may leave the door open for being counter-KOed in the lategame facilities, any opponent that can't do that is going to get rolled up and spat back out.
Island Scan has Eelektross available on Sundays. Neither one has Egg Moves.
This Black Belt is our first conventional postgame Trainer. He's still in USUM, with a different Pokemon, but he's been moved north, out of the way of the events that USUM needs to run in this space.
Mienshao (Ultra Moon): When Mienshao lets out a bizarre wail, you’re in danger. A flurry of kicks and chops too fast to see is about to be unleashed!
Crabominable in SM, Mienshao in USUM. Both Adamant, 31 IV and 252 EVs in Atk, with no other investments. Of course, this is a Black Belt.
The real surprise is their high levels.
Fortunately, Jigsaw has a plan for that. Shell Trap's amusing.
...You've gotta have more than that prepared if you've come this far.
Fortunately, his Pokemon seem ready to provide.
Zygarde Cell and X Sp. Atk up here. I can't help but be disappointed with X Items.
This one's hidden nowhere intuitive, but it is nice.
I think this guy walks around a bit in the S-Bend coming up, and with the camera angle you're walking into, he's hard to catch.
Jackson is a heavily physical-focused Trainer, although his team doesn't have much investment to emphasise that. Each Pokemon has 31 IVs in Atk (SM)/30 IVs in Atk/Spd (USUM), and that's it. He's hoping those moves are fit for purpose.
His SM team is composed of Bruxish, Marowak, and Braviary.
His USUM team replaces Bruxish with Huntail, but is otherwise identical.
So much for Waterfall being a welcome reprieve from Aqua Tail.
Fortunately, Marowak seems obsessed with using the move Endeavour. That lack of carefully selected attacking moves doesn't seem to have agreed with this one.
That's why we have Aqua Jet.
K9, proving once and for all he really needs to stop leaning on Accelerock.
Fortunately, he's being put up against Tailwind and Crush Claw- an easy combination to weather when you're a Rock type spamming priority.
Not much for dialogue, are you?
Here is the end of Poni Grove, complete with Zygarde Cell. It is worth noting that there is nothing preventing you from exiting to the next area without having completed the Blacephalon/Stakataka event in USUM, but there is a barrier preventing us from going all the way to the Battle Tree. None of the content in this update, strictly speaking, needs us to have done that- well, other than catching Riolu and Heracross.
Welcome to Poni Plains, or as I like to call it, "the prototype of the Wild Area". There are so many visible encounters available here, and a lot of these grass patches actually have different encounter tables. Surprisingly, there is nothing new in the grass- everything we haven't yet found is available from a visible encounter.
Island Scan has Conkeldurr with Drain Punch in SM, and Aggron with Reversal in USUM. They can be found on Mondays.
Zygarde Cell here, right out in the open.
And as promised, here's our final route boss, hanging out on Poni Plains. There are three Trainers hiding in the corners of the route, plus a fourth in USUM. This really gives me vibes of what later games would make the norm.
The first Trainers is in this bottom-right corner, tucked out of the way.
Angela has the same idea as Jackson, her two Pokemon having one 31 IV each in SM and two 30s in USUM, but she isn't as single-minded on one stat like Jackson is.
Cloyster went for Defence.
Bold strategy when your movepool sucks and your Special Defence is a waiting target.
She goes for Gorebyss in USUM, matching Jackson's Huntail, and this one went Def/Sp. Atk. A much more competently designed opponent. If the movepools work.
Lurantis is shared between games, going Atk in SM and Atk/Spd in USUM. Clearly someone has trauma from her Lurantis Trial too.
Well, I imagine you didn't go take on the entirety of the Aether Foundation, so probably.
...OK, as adorably goofy as that is, I do notice that she could be referring to the Battle Tree and talking about something relatively sensible.
She was guarding a vitamin, as it happens.
First major stop on the visible encounter tables, one circling this tree. There is a nice prize at the base to grab first, though...
Pyroar (Ultra Moon): The temperature of its breath is over 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, but Pyroar doesn't use it on its prey. This Pokémon prefers to eat raw meat.
Found only in USUM in the tall grass shadows, Pyroar is a Fire/Normal Pokemon with 109/106 Special offenses and relatively flat stats in everything else. It was a Pokemon available early in XY and kinda belongs there, but it turns out that enjoying the benefits of both Fire and Normal is actually kinda good for it- it can click Hyper Voice whenever Flamethrower isn't the right move in a situation. Sadly, they don't get the awesome coverage options afforded to many Normals. Pyroar also has the sexual dimorphism found in Kalos: Males have the lion's famous mane, in the shape of a Fire Blast. You'll usually find females, though- they have a 7:1 ratio in favour of females, like many lion prides, and they are in fact the only Pokemon with this gender ratio.
Pyroar's Abilities are Rivalry (+25% power against opponents of the same gender, -25% against opponents of the opposite gender) and Unnerve (prevents opponents from eating Berries). Its HA is Moxie (+1 Atk per KO it lands). When I'm telling you Unnerve is its best Ability, I am telling you this thing did not win out on Abilities.
Rustling bushes instead have a 30% chance of containing Hariyama in SM. This is probably the most convenient place to look to get their King's Rock drops for the two evolutions you need to do. That says plenty.
There's one of these at the back here and a second one in the middle-west of the area, both with the same tables. There are actually two noteworthy finds in here.
Scyther (Ultra Sun): Its two sharp scythes are more than just weapons. It uses them with dexterity to dress its prey before eating.
Found in rustling bushes in both games, Scyther is a Bug/Flying type with some interesting prospects. It has a BST of 500, with solid 110/105 Physical offenses... and was later granted an evolution into Scizor. As a result, Scizor has +20 Atk/Def, which is taken out of its Speed. There is a solid argument to sticking to Scyther, with Scizor as a sidegrade. With that said, Scyther's Bug/Flying type is pretty inferior to Bug/Steel, even if that gap is a bit closer than many might assume, and Scizor has another advantage relating to, of all things, its favourite Ability.
Scyther's Abilities are Swarm (+50% Atk/Sp. Atk when using a Bug type move at 1/3 HP or less) and Technician (+50% power when using a move that has 60 BP or less). Its HA is Steadfast (+1 Spd when flinching), turning into Light Metal (halves weight) on evolution. Its favourite Ability of the bunch is Technician, and the reason that Scizor uses it better is because Scizor has exclusive access to the priority move Bullet Punch. Sadly, evolving Scyther requires a trade, and it doesn't fit into the teams I really want it in.
Found only in USUM, we get wild Chansey! But Chansey isn't new? Oh... in USUM, it is. All the Chansey SOS calls were removed from the baby's tables in USUM, and in exchange, these Chanseys can call for help. This, right here, is the best grinding spot in the game. It could stand to be better, but that's just Pokemon tradition at this point.
The rustling bush tables are 30% for Scyther in both games, 20% for Chansey in USUM, and anything that isn't this is a Cottonee/Petilil.
Night-locked Zygarde Cell behind that one. I'm not sure on the encounter trigger, but running away deletes the encounter.
This is, I believe, the only rustling tree around here. Which is annoying, because USUM has two new Pokemon to find in here.
Rustling trees are the place to find Emolga in both SM and USUM. Emolga have 103 Spd, fairly weak 75s in both offenses, and even worse bulk. Basically the only advantage it has is the Electric/Flying type and cuteness, because this thing is not really establishing itself as a worthy battling partner. Even the rodents worse than it have access to the Pickup Ability!
Emolga's only normal Ability is Static, inflicting paralysis 30% of the time when hit with a contact move. Being annoying in the fourth Gym in BW is basically its only ambition in life. It has Motor Drive as HA (+1 Spd whenever hit with an Electric move, is immune to Electric moves), which doesn't help the rest of its stats.
Aipom (Ultra Sun): As it did more and more with its tail, its hands became clumsy. It makes its nest high in the treetops.
Found in rustling trees in USUM, Aipom is a pure Normal type that doesn't have that much worth showing. 100/115 Physical offenses and pretty terrible everything else, Aipom at least has decent enough Physical options to make something of itself were it available in the main story. Now? Now there's only one thing worth getting out of it. It evolves into Ambipom when levelled up knowing Double Hit, and fortunately, Aipom will always come with that in this game.
Aipom's Abilities are Run Away, turning into Technican (+50% power on moves 60 BP or less), and Pickup (will find items 10% of the time after battles). Ambipom is one of a limited number of FE Pokemon with Pickup, meaning you can set and forget with it in your back pocket. Its HA is Skill Link (moves that hit 2-5 times always land 5 times), but the only moves it seems to have for that are all Normal types. You want to play Skill Link, use something with Bullet Seed or Rock Blast.
The rustling tree tables are 20% Emolga, 20% Aipom in USUM, and the remainder is Primeape. These ones are more annoying, because it's harder to run from Primeape.
As we head up here, we can start finding some drop-shadow visible encounters. Nothing new in those- just Fearow and Braviary/Mandibuzz- so let's just read the sign.
...You know, this is a completely fair Trainer Tips to have this late, I'll buy it.
This Hiker is hanging out to the west, and there's a surprising amount of stuff to sniff out back here.
Huh, neat, he has different dialogue between games. Fitting, considering the change USUM made to his team.
He has two Pokemon in SM, and just one in USUM. In both games, his team has no investments of any kind.
His SM team is Lycanroc in Midday form and Gigalith. Kinda giving me Olivia vibes, which might be why he changed for USUM.
...I wonder if this is the guy to whom Olivia traded away her Boldore for the Golem in SM.
Despite the lack of investment, they did put up a bit of a fight. Not enough to cause a faint, but you can tell I've fallen behind.
His sole Pokemon in USUM is an Aerodactyl, which won't be found in the mountains.
The "spring" conversation is found in his post-battle dialogues, which does mean USUM forgets to accommodate them. Well, what else is new?
This top-left area is nice and mountainous, with a set of Tauros rocks to break, two ledges to drop down, and this visible shadow to avoid.
And in USUM only, an entire brand-new cave. Only thing in here is a new Z-Crystal in a pedestal. Rather surprising, given it's not a typed one.
This, right here, was the tipping point between putting Isabella on Ray's team versus keeping her in Bethany's. The Kommonium Z allows Kommo-o to use a signature Z-Move of its own, with a powerful bonus effect. Ray found a perfect chance to use that in the bonus update for this part, thankfully.
Where. Were. You? Bethany and Noah both had Pokemon that desperately wanted Thunderbolt in a reasonable timeframe. This sort of thing is what caused limited-use TMs to come back, so they could give us one or two of these in the main story.
USUM doesn't bother with the TM here, instead going with a Power Item. Completing the full set is available through litter items scattered throughout the back half of Poni Island.
They also added another Trainer, a policeman who thinks imitating the street crime he is supposed to be curtailing is a good idea. At least he saw an opportunity with his name and he took it.
His Stoutland has flat 25s, but is otherwise standard-issue.
That Intimidate causing me no end of issues.
For... some reason, I found both Ray and Ailey had a Roar-fest going on here, where Stoutland kept switching who was shooting at him.
Fortunately, Roar always goes last, so every turn does have an attack to use.
I think that's my line.
I'd say you're the most terrible cop on the archipelago, but I'm afraid that title has competition.
Zygarde Cell on this convergence point.
And a Berry Tree down here. It contains the type-resist Berries for Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, and Ground. There are no spare trees for the other ones, this is just here for the other prize-
The Maranga Berry, the counterpart of the Kee Berry, in the big piles. This will raise Sp. Def when hit with a Special move, and is about as useful as the Kee Berry.
Consider how many times I have used that one.
Just a Star Piece on this one.
Just north of the Trainer Tips sign is this area, the Meadow of Poni Island. This is our midway Fly point, and our final destination, but first we've got a little bit more east of here.
Like this Veteran. The fact he shares a name with Galar's Champion is not lost on me, but considering his team looks nothing like Galar's Leon, I don't think this was meant to be a cameo. Plus, Leon's not old enough to be a Veteran!
Veteran Leon has IV spreads of 31/15/15/15/15/31 in SM, but no further investment. USUM, of course, goes further, giving him 30/30/15/15/15/30, 252 EVs on Atk/Spd, Adamant Natures, and defined moves for everything he carries.
He leads with a Skarmory in both games. His USUM Skarmory carries Slash, Night Slash, and Sky Drop.
In either game, it's Sturdy, so it's nice to have a plan to break it.
Ouch. Well, at least that shows off Skarmory's weaknesses at the whole "dealing damage" thing.
But Zapple does it better.
Vikavolt. These things are irritating because they tend to be just bulky enough that they don't go down in one hit.
Like so.
Well, at least they seem to think Zap Cannon is a good idea. In for a penny in for a pound, I guess?
Just an easy, quick KO.
And Gyarados. So easy to pick off, yet so annoying in every respect.
Fortunately, this one went for the "easy" route.
You look like you're having a champion time, buddy.
Instead of Vikavolt and Gyarados, his USUM version has Araquanid and Electivire. Araquanid has Liquidation, Lunge and Crunch, Electivire is Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, and Brick Break. That Araquanid is scary if your counter is Special, but the Electivire? Not so much.
And as one note to end us off, this Gyarados knows Rain Dance, and has decided that the best counter to a Magnezone that knows Thunder is to set up some rain for it. PRNDL is not complaining.
Now what am I doing with that?
If we walk up to the end of Poni Plains in USUM, we can say hello to two cameo NPCs- Looker, and his boss.
The boss is much more interested in Pokemon battling than Looker. We've never seen Looker in battle, and only seem him owning a Pokemon once.
These characters are important to the postgame plot of SM, but that doesn't seem to be an issue, they're on vacation. And Looker insists that his boss act like it.
That is a tiny ! box. Is that a product of the perspective shift or something?
Huh, Looker recognises us? This man has a head for faces- no wonder he's the most competent member of the International Police we've seen.
...He's also the only one we've seen, but details.
Explaining why the name "Anabel" is significant will be a bit of a spoiler for SM, but Anabel is supposed to be a nostalgia character, like Looker himself.
"He wasn't a Champion when I talked to him!"
Anabel and Looker will serve as our roadblock, and prevent Ray from progressing past this point until he's dealt with those Blacephalon.
"Making Anabel go on vacation" does not count as a mission. If she chooses to spend her vacation doing Pokemon battles, that's her business.
Anyway, we need to go and deal with this last route boss in USUM. There's one more in SM, but that's a special case.
Let's see if you're worth the wait.
Funny you say that, considering what your team is.
Cole has two Pokemon in SM, and three in USUM. All with IVs, EVs, Natures, and moves. His weakness? All of them are Dragon types. Now, whether that's truly a weakness depends on whether you have the Ice/Dragon/Fairy power to push through that hole.
The teams are also completely different between games- something that might be relevant, considering what happens in USUM's team, but I digress. Drampa has 15/15/31/31/31/15 IVs, 252 EVs in Sp. Atk/Sp. Def, a Modest Nature, and the moves Dragon Pulse, Hyper Voice, Extrasensory, and Light Screen. Prepared for every eventuality... except a Steel type.
Or, you know, a Fighting type with an existent amount of Speed. Drampa is not endgame quality.
Goodra's in the same boat, except things are a little better when your weaknesses don't typically run Physical. And even the ones that do don't have nice moves to help. 31/15/15/31/31/15 IVs, 252 EVs in Sp. Atk/Sp. Def, a Modest Nature, and the moves Dragon Pulse, Muddy Water, and Feint. Only one of these moves is worth writing home about. He's also holding a Dragonium Z, of course.
With that said, I am going to have to hit it Specially, so Razzly will be Quiver Dancing up.
90 BP, 85% accuracy. Muddy Water certainly did damage, but it just isn't a move I like to find myself relying on.
...With that said, that Special bulk is enough that Goodra managed to get off its second attack.
And land it.
Which means the next thing I send out is taking that Devastating Drake. At least that means we see it.
It proved a little tricky to show off a Dragon move that isn't just a Fire move, so they went with the spiralling dragon school of attacks.
You'll have to excuse PRNDL subbing in for Woodstock there, turns out it's a little tricky to catch the dragon in action. For some reason.
...Dammit, Woodstock. How did we cut it that close?
Went for the switch in to try and avoid getting another KO under my belt, but I guess we're doing that anyway.
Oh well, I'm getting out of this one.
...Not sure what that post-defeat line is, but good to show him what's what. Although he did take out the same number of Pokemon as me.
Quash is a Status Dark move that forces the targeted Pokemon to act last in the current turn. Absolutely useless in Singles, and since it doesn't have any priority, mostly useless in Doubles, too. It takes a very special mind to have a use for this, and I'm not sure why it took three generations to finally be taken off the TM list. Frankly, it probably should've been removed when they took out moves in SwSh, not useful moves like Signal Beam and Karate Chop.
You showed off Devastating Drake, so you were worth fighting.
Anyway, let's talk about USUM's devs not really thinking your investments through.
Druddigon (Ultra Moon): It infiltrates tunnels that Pokémon like Diglett and Dugtrio have dug and quietly waits for prey to pass through.
Oh hey, new Pokemon, too. Druddigon has 30/30/20/20/20/30 IVs, 252 EVs in Atk/Spd, and the moves Dragon Claw, Night Slash, and Slash. Nature? Modest. All of his team has Modest Natures, despite the fact two of them pivoted to being Physical attackers. Probably the same thing that happened to Grand Trial Olivia. Druddigon as a Pokemon is good but not great, and that Modest Nature means this remains a pretty good Pokemon to set up on.
Zossie, fortunately, does not need to set up.
Clicking Dragon Pulse is all the setup she needs.
Dragalge has 30/20/20/30/20/30 IVs and the moves Dragon Pulse, Hydro Pump, and Sludge Bomb. He actually has reason to be using that Modest Nature, but may or may not be counterbalanced by only having 252 EVs in Speed. That feels like an error.
Beast Boosting my way to victory. I don't even think a Sp. Def investment could've saved that.
Enemy Kommo-o! 30/20/20/30/30/20 IVs, 252 EVs in Sp. Atk/Sp. Def- wait, what? Do you know what a Kommo-o does? Moves are Dragon Claw, Close Combat and Dragon Dance, with the Dragonium Z, and the fact it has Dragon Dance means it has good odds of Z-Dragon Dancing and wasting that Z-Crystal on something that doesn't even have a bonus effect (Z-Dragon Dance resets lowered stats).
This is all theoretical, of course, Zossie continues just ploughing right on by.
Exactly the same as USUM, and no, Quash is still terrible here.
Anyway, it's time for us to get to Poni Meadow. Only a few things to come across here, but there's something pretty important in USUM.
Most of the new finds in here are Poni's Oricorio and the Blue Flower Floette.
And also USUM finally has Misdreavus. This is the price they paid for early Murkrow, and Prankster Haze is good enough I think they made off well, but still. This isn't even the only Pokemon we can find here that's a demoted-to-postgame find in USUM.
Island Scan has Leavanny available in both games- one with Me First in SM, and one with Grassy Terrain in USUM.
This seems to just be a friendly Probopass. Not a healing spot or an item.
There's a Poke Finder spot here, but it is a doozy. SM has Oricorio at Night, otherwise having Ribombee and Dragonite. USUM has Oricorio at all times of day, making Ribombee a Day find and Mismagius a Night one, and of course still having Dragonite.
There's also a Max Potion in here in USUM.
This is our first opportunity to find Dratini in USUM. They're still here in SM, we just found some in Vast Poni Canyon, too.
Purple Nectar acquired. Honestly, this might actually be pretty tempting to use on Dottie, if only I knew on what.
Item on top of this ledge, which you can get by climbing some tree roots, you can get... Honey in SM. They replaced it with one of the Power items in USUM- the one for Sp. Atk, so extra nice.
It's finally time for us to finish the Meredith questline. It's worth mentioning that Ray actually forgot to fight Ula'ula Meredith, which confused me for a second, but it could've been much worse.
Frankly, I'm surprised. This doesn't seem like nearly as pleasant a place to visit as the other two Meadows.
Time for us to finally get the reward for sticking through this sidequest.
So, what's Sensu's dialogue like?
Apparently, sensu means "knights". Or perhaps the British. Same thing.
New field, same deal. Flat 20s, no EVs or Natures, but defined moves- Revelation Dance, Air Slash, Teeter Dance, and Roost. Good enough for purpose, but entirely predictable.
Although Robin was one heck of an ambitious counter. Probably could've found something smarter than that.
I'm like 90% sure Sensu's reference material got lost in translation at some point. Whether that's on the localisers or just "Sensu is inherently something that doesn't quite fit into English" is a different question.
You've got some combination of "knights" and "grace under pressure", which isn't exactly a combination that comes up often in English consideration.
We have, at long last, finished off a sidequest chain we started before we even agreed to help Lillie with her problems. That's how long this has been going on for.
Glad to be of assistance, but that seems to have been entirely on you, madam.
Finally, Ray and Ailey have Swords Dance under their belt. Bethany and Noah have had this for ages- back in Malie City ages. Still, whatever Physical attackers have our fancy, we can click this button now.
I dunno, "Meredith's first autograph" sounds like it'll make a great collector's item in a few years.
We won't be seeing Meredith again. Maybe in a B2W2 remake they'll put her in Pokestar. Hopefully the bring Pokestar back in another region instead.
Overheat is a 130 BP, 90% accurate Special Fire move that lowers the user's Sp. Atk by two stages after it is used. Overheat is the original form of Draco Meteor, and probably the one that sees the least use, considering Flamethrower and Fire Blast are typically better options. Leaf Storm and Draco Meteor don't exactly have moves like that elsewhere in their types.
Zygarde Cell on the jump back. Probably should've grabbed this on my way out, but I would've forgotten it.
And a Power Herb up here. This is a one-use item that will cause any move with a charge turn to fire immediately. The semi-invulnerability moves typically like that turn of semi-invulnerability, but this can be helpful for moves like Sky Attack that don't have that.
The Power Herb was moved to replace the Zygarde Cell, and another item put in the Power Herb's old place, for USUM. Sometimes I wonder about these decisions.
Welcome to Resolution Cave. I thought the music was new, but no, turns out it's in Ten Carat Hill. To be fair, that's a pretty small section of cave. This place doesn't have much, but what it does have is worth the trip.
Found only in USUM and one such prize, Druddigon is a pure Dragon type Pokemon with a solid 120 Atk stat and appreciable bulk, but it has a low 48 Speed. This thing kinda comes off really badly as a Dragon type when it was one of the first dedicated Dragons that wasn't a member of the 600 club, but it's strong enough in the battling fields that suit it. It does kinda show that as cool as the Dragon type is, it's only good- not great.
Druddigon's Abilities are Rough Skin (attackers that land contact suffer 1/16th of their own HP in damage) and Sheer Force (boosts the power of moves with bonus effects by ~30%, but turns off the bonus effects). Druddigon can do good-but-not-great at either of the jobs these Abilities ask of it. Its HA is Mold Breaker, which allows it to ignore Abilities that prevent it from landing its moves. It's... also good-but-not-great, but doesn't really sing to Druddigon's combat niches.
There's an opening bit to Mudsdale Gallop past, with two different paths off.
Going straight leads you to a dead end with some items.
In SM, both the visible and the hidden item are fairly passe items. USUM changes the visible item to the Power item for HP, but it's still pretty obvious there's more to this place even if you missed it.
USUM also adds another Veteran trainer to this part of the cave. As a Veteran, Leticia of course packs all the essentials to making her team dangerous, and for a change of pace, they actually work out, more or less.
Ribombee is 15/15/15/30/30/30, with 252 EVs in Sp. Atk and Spd, a Modest Nature, and the moves Dazzling Gleam and Bug Buzz. Perfectly cromulent, and pretty much what you'd expect from a well-trained elite random trainer.
She put up a fight on Nemo, but didn't manage the oneshot and went down to a good hit in kind. Exactly what you hope to see.
Her other Pokemon is a Bewear, 30/30/30/15/15/15 IVs, 252 EVs in Atk/Def, an Adamant Nature and the moves Hammer Arm and Double-Edge. A nice complement to Ribombee, it is perfectly cromulent in much the same way... were it not completely walled by Ghost types. I guess that's more of a Bewear issue than a Leticia issue, but still, Theodore laughed at this one.
Leticia seems to like the idea of combining the Island Challenge and lifelong learning. And you know what? I'm with her. Where were you when Kukui designed his League?
In order to get the real prizes, we have to go south. You have to have your eyes at least somewhat open to spot it.
Do be careful not to fall face-first into Maria when you do, though. Camera control is a thing.
Electric type in both games. Odd choice for a cave- they're good on the Golbats, but the rest of the Pokemon are Dugtrio, Noivern, and Druddigon.
Flat 15s and nothing else, they're easy prey.
Yeah, you might want something like an Ice type.
I want those goodies.
...Huh, you can click on the Tauros rocks and spawn Tauros, too. Pity that doesn't work on the Mudsdale rocks.
It's about damn time. Earthquake is the biggest of baddest moves for a reason- 100 BP Physical Ground move that hits everyone in a Doubles battle. Because Ground is such an amazing offensive type, pretty much everything that learns this and likes to attack Physically has a solid argument for making it their coverage move. There's a reason they kept this one for postgame even in USUM.
There's a tiny little outcropping to go through here, and if you do, you'll find this lovely new toy. Added as a brand new item for SM, this is the equivalent to the Heat/Damp/Smooth/Icy Rocks for terrains, allowing any Terrain set- regardless of type or whether it's a move or a Surge- to last for eight turns instead of five. The fact that this is a universal terrain extender and not four different items for the four different terrains does make it look like Game Freak has cottoned on to the item bloat, although it is worth noting that the official competitive battling format has a rule that bans two Pokemon from holding the same item.
...To be fair, most teams will stick to exploiting one set terrain, but still, it is a consideration for items like this.
Right underneath that Terrain Extender is a Hiker hiding behind some Tauros rocks.
Travis is, funnily enough, packing the same team between games. As a Hiker, there's of course nothing going on with them.
Starting with a Dugtrio, and-
Battle of the Earthquakes!
Murphy does it better. And he's not weak to Earthquake, but details.
The other Pokemon is another Mudsdale. How fortuitous.
...Energy Ball is not doing as much as I hope, but Mudsdale clearly isn't trying harder. Hopefully it's not carrying Heavy Slam- Razzly resists Ground and Fighting, but Heavy Slam will wipe her off the face of the Earth.
I was almost worried, but it turns out I'm good.
I think that's just a metaphor, but the concept is sound.
Anyway, we now prepare to enter... the interior cave.
...Right after we pick this Zygarde Cell up.
This area is a bit of a nostalgia area, and its inclusion is pointedly targeted given what is in this region, and why it's here.
So many Zygarde Cells! The one outside the cave is a Day-locked one, to match this Night-locked one of Noah's, plus one placed on a pedestal... almost like...
Where you'd find a Legendary.
This cave room is identical to the one that housed Zygarde in Pokemon XY, and it is likely that, had a Pokemon Z expanded Zygarde's role, the room would have done something too. Because Zygarde's expansion came with SM, they borrowed the room, but other than condensing the unpopular Zygarde Cell hunt in USUM, the room has no more significance.
USUM condenses the Zygarde Cell hunt almost entirely to this moment, giving us a 50% Zygarde now, and adding one more thing to do before we get the other 50%. But that is just the one thing- not 100.
50% Zygarde (Moon): It’s thought to be monitoring the ecosystem. There are rumors that even greater power lies hidden within it.
50% Zygarde is the only form of Zygarde available within XY, and the form most know Zygarde in. In this serpentine shape, many of Zygarde's movelist decisions (such as its lack of Dragon Claw) make more sense. It's still Dragon/Ground, and most of its stats hover around 100- it's got 121 Def in exchange for 80 Sp. Atk, but otherwise, we're in the 95-108 range. I do think I prefer Squishy in the 10% form, but the extra bulk does come in handy.
Zygarde uses its old theme, which Xerneas and Yveltal were already showing off.
I kinda feel like that shouldn't show up unless it actually is doing something. Makes it sound like it is doing something otherwise.
This Zygarde has an agonising moveset containing both Glare, to paralyse you, and Safeguard, to prevent the reverse operation. As a Ground type, paralysis isn't even easy to come by.
Actually obtaining 100% Zygarde with Ray and Ailey is a formality- and I've honestly never committed to it before. I'll show it, but just catching this one gives us the Dex entry we need.
In addition to the pedestal, there are four branching paths, each with a round object. In XY, this was where they stuck the Adamant, Lustrous and Griseous Orbs, but they're better here.
...OK, you're not. It wasn't even worth walking over there.
South-west corner contains the Light Ball, a special item that gives Pikachu x2 Atk and Sp. Atk stats. Breeding a Pichu while one of the parents was holding this was also how you used to teach Volt Tackle to the species. We could've got one through a 5% drop from a Pikachu, but nuts to that.
It would probably have helped Zapple, though...
The Orb in the bottom-right is the best one, and of course it's changed between games. SM has the Life Orb, giving the holder a 30% increase in power at the cost of 10% maximum HP for each attack- this is one of the better hold items for attacking Pokemon, especially if you have no idea what you expect to fight and thus can't act like the Expert Belt will carry you to victory. USUM replaces it with a Toxic Orb, which inflicts Bad Poison on the holder. While it can be used for effects that require statuses, it's not worth it if the Flame Orb would also accomplish the job on anything but Magic Guard.
And in the last corner, a hidden Big Nugget. This is the same thing that was found in this exact corner in Terminus Cave, and while I like the hustle, there is an Adrenaline Orb that it's just objectively better than.
Browsing Bethany's Pokedex, we've actually Seen every entry into Poni's Pokedex. The two Pokemon she has yet to catch are Lucario and Scizor, who Gladion and Kommo-o respectively showed her. Ailey still has one new family to catch in the back of Poni Island, but otherwise, we're coming close to completing the set.
Next time: Finding the Battle Tree.
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