![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kjorteoAs you might have noticed, these updates are starting to slow down. My life is busy, my gaming backlog even busier. I just got a Switch, and I also received a ton of Steam games and Nintendo eShop credit for my recent birthday. Don't get me wrong; I still very much intend to finish this out. Just... well, there's a reason the first entry started with that disclaimer about not promising regularity.
This may seem like an odd thing to cite as a silver lining to the situation, but I did get some awesome new headphones for said birthday. The sound quality is like night and day. And... well... see any of my previous entries. You know how much the music means to me in this game. I haven't touched it in weeks because life got in the way, but when I powered it on just now with the new headphones, I ended up sitting through the entire intro before I pressed start. It took me back all over again. It's... powerful. Yeah, this will keep me inspired.
The Nothing may be catching up to us, but I'm determined to see the Chikoritalike Empress and her party through to safety.
Let's do this.
Last time: Faced with the final challenges of Johto before us, we went home instead.
This time: Oh by the way there's a Legendary Pokemon.
Everyone on my team is now level 48, except Kracko (who is 45) and Hunter (42.) Considering we're off to go capture a Legendary Pokemon, I'll be needing our field and utility Pokemon as well as my capture Pokemon. That leaves me with about one slot left, and I want to give it to someone who has an answer to Psychic. Hence, our Whirl Islands team is as follows: Omnihunter (leading and holding the Lucky Egg for now), Nimbly, Auryn, Hunter, Drake, and Bladewings.
I check the map before we head out and... oh, dear. The Whirl Islands are immense. Good thing I didn't try to include this with the last update.
Field move-requiring security is definitely present, and Drake and Bladewings both prove their worth right away. Even getting inside at all requires crossing whirlpools with Whirlpool, then lighting up the darkness with Flash.
The random encounters seem to be in the low 20s, level-wise. Easily low enough for Repels to work if I wanted to get through without a fight, but (just barely) high enough that (with the Lucky Egg boost at least) the experience gain is... tolerable. Sure, why not, I'll fight things, I guess.
The Whirl Islands cave network is a massive multi-floor ladder maze with five entrances depending on which of the individual islands you start from. Most of them connect to each other, such that you could get all the side treasure from any starting point. However, it's a circuitous and confusing path if you don't have a map, and it's nearly impossible without Flash. Meanwhile, if you want to progress further down to where the Legendary Pokemon is waiting, you'll need to start from the northeast entrance.
In the lower level, there's a man blocking the path who gets out of the way as soon as he sees that we have the Silver Wing. Obviously he's there to keep the player from messing up the plot by sequence breaking, but now I'm just thinking about what this man's life must be like. Just hanging out in the lower depths of the Whirl Islands cave network, all day, every day, just waiting for people to come by....
The world of Pokemon is a strange place.
there are two doors along the final descending path. The top one leads to a small balcony-like room, where one can see the ground floor far below. The only purpose of this room, as far as I know, is that it has a Rare Candy in it. It's so insignificant that it's not even in Bulbapedia's map files, or else I'd link it. I just want to call attention to it, though, because this view is gorgeous. This is the most blown away by Gen IV's enhancements I've felt since Route 47.
Outside the lower entrance, I swap Nimbly into the lead position, save in case anything goes wrong, and enter.
Inside, the music has stopped. The Kimono Girls are all standing there. Zuki says that this is where they welcome Lugia. When their dance becomes one with the Tidal Bell they gave us, then Lugia will appear.
Their plan outlined, they perform the dance, and once again, Gen IV manages to make this look phenomenal. Just watch this. This is what enhanced remakes are for: this took a scene that young me could only imagine through the Game Boy graphics, and realized it.
The Kimono Girls confirm that that is indeed Lugia, guardian of these islands since ancient times. So many have tried and failed to summon it, but with our heart "in complete harmony with the Tidal Bell," we have finally allowed it to appear. They conclude that Lugia must have been waiting for someone like us this whole time, which explains all the Chosen One vibes the Kimono Girls have been giving us throughout this entire game.
Another save, a short Surf to where Lugia awaits us (there's no music at all in this room even when you Surf, which is a great touch,) and the battle begins.
Lugia has a special encounter theme, which is fantastic. It really sets the mood for what a big deal this encounter is. This isn't some random bats or rats scurrying around some random cave. This is Lugia.
Lugia is level 45, coming in just barely under my level 48 team. The levels are close, but Lugia is a Legendary. It is sure to put my team to shame on stats and powerful moves, though Nimbly does have three levels and a type advantage over it.
My goal is to have Nimbly break off large chunks of Lugia's health, then swap in Omnihunter for more careful and surgical removal the last bits with False Swipe, then swap in Hunter to put it to sleep, then throw Dusk Balls at it until one of them works. On a guess, I decide that a full-power Super Effective Night Slash probably won't one-hit KO Lugia (if it does, I saved.) Let's see how it goes!
Lugia uses Extrasensory, which does nothing because Nimbly is immune to Psychic. Nimbly answers with Night Slash, which hits for about 60-70% or so of Lugia's health. Definitely enough that I can't do that again, so that's the first phase down in one move.
I switch in Omnihunter, who eats a Hydro Pump for about 25-30% of his health. Next turn, Lugia goes first and Aeroblasts for... uh... all of his remaining health, because it scored a critical hit. Well, then.
Nimbly is back in, just to hold the line while I revive Omnihunter. While I use a Revive, Lugia sets up Rain Dance. While I use a Hyper Potion, Lugia Aeroblasts Nimbly for... 100% health, one-hit knockout, because it scored a critical hit again. This Aeroblast is going to be a problem, isn't it.
Omnihunter comes back in. Lugia Hydro Pumps for about 45% health. False Swipe scores a critical hit, and that knocks Lugia all the way down to 1 HP. Right, there was more difficulty than anticipated, but that's phase two down.
Hunter switches in just in time to eat... Lugia trying to do another Rain Dance while the first Rain Dance was already in effect, and failing. Thanks for the opening?
Lugia tries and fails to Rain Dance again. Hunter tries Hypnosis and misses. The rain stops.
I try that again, but Lugia opens the next round with Extrasensory, which is Super Effective. Hunter explodes into a fine mist, of course. She never stood a chance against that one.
Omnihunter comes back in just so I can revive Hunter. Lugia uses Extrasensory again. Unlike the regular-variety Hunter, Omnihunter is strong against Psychic, so it doesn't do as much damage. However, it still puts Omnihunter at low health--another Hydro Pump or Aeroblast would destroy him. I use a Hyper Potion on Omnihunter, and Lugia (successfully, this time) sets up another Rain Dance. I use a Fresh Water to bring Hunter back to full health, and Lugia uses Extrasensory (still mostly ineffective against Omnihunter.) This is as good an opening as I'll ever get, so I switch again.
Hunter switches into a Hydro Pump which kills her instantly.
:|
Omnihunter back, Revive Hunter, Lugia tries and fails to Rain Dance. Clearly there is no point in trying to restore Hunter from half health since any direct hit will kill her anyway, so this is close enough.
Hunter switches into an Extrasensory. Ow.
I revive Hunter, Omnihunter eats a Hydro Pump. Hunter switches into another Hydro Pump and faints again.
Okay, this clearly isn't working. New strategy.
Omnihunter in, revive Hunter again. Lugia uses Extrasensory, it's not very effective. Omnihunter is at about 30% health remaining. I start throwing balls. The only way Hunter will ever get into this battle is as a revenge deployment off of Omnihunter's sacrifice. Even then, the only way she'll get Hypnosis off is if Lugia wastes her turn on Rain Dance. Even then, Hypnosis is only 70% accurate. I'm just going to accept that getting a lucky break on every "if" in that sequence all in a row is unlikely to happen. Lugia is already at 1 HP and I have Dusk Balls, so let's just hope that's enough. If Omnihunter goes down again, I can try for Hunter then, I guess.
Dusk Ball attempt number one fails, and Lugia answers with Aeroblast, fainting Omnihunter. Oops. I guess we'll get to try that strategy out sooner than planned.
Hunter is in and I have her try for Hypnosis. Lugia goes first and... Extrasensory. Nope.
Auryn is in because everyone else is either down or a non-combatant. Plan C: Revive Omnihunter and switch back to him, then keep him in permanently, using either Dusk Balls or Hyper Potions each round depending on his health.
I revive Omnihunter, and Aeroblast hits Auryn for about 45%. I use a Hyper Potion on Omnihunter, and Extrasensory hits for barely anything because Auryn is strong against it too. Omnihunter switches into an Aeroblast, which doesn't crit for once and hits for about 40%.
A Dusk Ball catch attempt fails. Extrasensory doesn't hit very hard, but it brings Omnihunter down to the zone where I worry about another Aeroblast/Hydro Pump.
Hyper Potion. Extrasensory.
Dusk Ball (fail). Extrasensory.
Dusk Ball (fail). Extrasensory.
Dusk Ball (fail). Extrasensory.
Wait.
Oh God, Lugia is running out of PP, isn't it? Is that why it's spamming Extrasensory now? Is it out of other moves? How many Hydro Pumps and Aeroblasts has it used so far?
I went back and reread all of my previous narration of this battle. By my count, Lugia has used 13 of Extrasensory and 5 each of Aeroblast, Hydro Pump, and Rain Dance. A quick Bulbapedia check confirms that those last three only have 5 PP each, and Extrasensory has 20. Which means, yes, Lugia is slowly running out of PP. I have seven more rounds of it spamming Extrasensory to try to catch it. Once it's completely out, it will use Struggle, whose recoil damage will make it faint instead.
Plan D: Throw Dusk Balls for the next seven rounds and don't stop for anything. I don't care who's left standing. If Lugia Struggles, it's a wipe/load anyway.
Three rounds of this all-out approach is enough to faint Omnihunter. Three more is enough to faint Auryn. Out of combatants, but with one round to go before this all goes belly-up anyway, I send in Bladewings. What's Lugia going to do? Make me lose the battle?
The seventh and final Extrasensory scores a critical and downs Bladewings in one hit, which brings me to Drake, my sixth and final Pokemon. Balls have top priority, and would go before Lugia moves, so I have exactly one more shot at this. It would be the most miraculous...
Nope. Lugia breaks free and... uses Extrasensory? Huh. I must have miscounted somewhere. Still, the end result is the same; that is more than enough to shred through Drake and wipe my party.
So. That didn't go well.
Okay. We can use this to put together a better strategy on the next attempt. What have we learned from this?
Putting this all together, I think that phase one of the next attempt (lead with Nimbly, use Night Slash) will be unchanged. Phase two (switch to Omnihunter, use False Swipe until Lugia has 1 HP) was... tricky last time, but I still think that's the best strategy I have. Phase three, though, is where we need a revised plan. Instead of using Hunter at all, let's try switching back to Nimbly, having an invincible standoff (as Lugia's last remaining move does nothing to her) where I'm free to throw ten or twenty Dusk Balls before Struggle ends the battle.
This is going to be a novel-length entry if I record all subsequent battle attempts in as much detail as that one, so I might just have to gloss over the later attempts a little. Just know that I'll be going for the general strategy outlined in the previous paragraph, Reviving and Hyper Potioning everyone if something goes wrong, and I'll let you know if anything out of the ordinary happens.
Battle attempt number two: Everything went according to plan and went much more smoothly. The endgame was certainly much less stressful once Lugia exhausted everything but Extrasensory. That part worked perfectly; there was nothing more it could do to hurt Nimbly at that point. The only way it could stop me was to break out of every ball I threw at it, run out the clock, and Struggle itself to death. Which, unfortunately, it did.
Battle attempt number three: I spent a few more rounds than strictly necessary tanking hits with Omnihunter even after getting Lugia down to 1 HP, mostly because I wanted to heal Nimbly before potentially switching into the damaging moves that Lugia still had available. Still, everything went according to plan once again up to Nimbly's return. Once Nimbly was in again, we weren't in the invincible clear zone yet because Lugia still had Aeroblast. Still, it was a relatively smooth "use Balls and then Potions when needed" sort of deal. Early into this phase, a lucky catch actually went off! With a final tally of Lugia having used all 5 Hydro Pump but only 3 Extrasensory, 1 Aeroblast, and 3 Rain Dance, I actually caught the blasted thing with a Heavy Ball.
Whew. Good Lord, I know catching Legendaries is an ordeal, but... that was an ordeal.
The Kimono Girls are impressed to the point of speechlessness ("You are so wonderful. There is nothing more for us to say.") The best they can offer is to bid us to take care of ourselves on our journey, and say hello to Professor Elm for them.
Outside the caves, Camper Todd calls us for a rematch. He'll be waiting for us on Route 34. I feel like the next entry is going to be all about tying up loose ends like this before pressing onto the endgame, so we'll take care of him then.
For now, there is but one thing left to do in this entry. The Kimono Girls have done so much to prepare and execute the summoning of Lugia. They trained and practiced and perfected their dance. They guided us throughout our journey. Everything they've done has been in service of this legendary Pokemon, a revered and worshiped guardian from ancient times. Lugia chose us to appear, and we captured it after several attempts at an epic battle in which we gave it everything we had. This is no ordinary Pokemon. A God walks among us, and for the sake of everyone over the countless centuries who made this possible, we must dutifully and reverently complete the ritual for it.
Amen.
This may seem like an odd thing to cite as a silver lining to the situation, but I did get some awesome new headphones for said birthday. The sound quality is like night and day. And... well... see any of my previous entries. You know how much the music means to me in this game. I haven't touched it in weeks because life got in the way, but when I powered it on just now with the new headphones, I ended up sitting through the entire intro before I pressed start. It took me back all over again. It's... powerful. Yeah, this will keep me inspired.
The Nothing may be catching up to us, but I'm determined to see the Chikoritalike Empress and her party through to safety.
Let's do this.
Last time: Faced with the final challenges of Johto before us, we went home instead.
This time: Oh by the way there's a Legendary Pokemon.
Everyone on my team is now level 48, except Kracko (who is 45) and Hunter (42.) Considering we're off to go capture a Legendary Pokemon, I'll be needing our field and utility Pokemon as well as my capture Pokemon. That leaves me with about one slot left, and I want to give it to someone who has an answer to Psychic. Hence, our Whirl Islands team is as follows: Omnihunter (leading and holding the Lucky Egg for now), Nimbly, Auryn, Hunter, Drake, and Bladewings.
I check the map before we head out and... oh, dear. The Whirl Islands are immense. Good thing I didn't try to include this with the last update.
Field move-requiring security is definitely present, and Drake and Bladewings both prove their worth right away. Even getting inside at all requires crossing whirlpools with Whirlpool, then lighting up the darkness with Flash.
The random encounters seem to be in the low 20s, level-wise. Easily low enough for Repels to work if I wanted to get through without a fight, but (just barely) high enough that (with the Lucky Egg boost at least) the experience gain is... tolerable. Sure, why not, I'll fight things, I guess.
The Whirl Islands cave network is a massive multi-floor ladder maze with five entrances depending on which of the individual islands you start from. Most of them connect to each other, such that you could get all the side treasure from any starting point. However, it's a circuitous and confusing path if you don't have a map, and it's nearly impossible without Flash. Meanwhile, if you want to progress further down to where the Legendary Pokemon is waiting, you'll need to start from the northeast entrance.
In the lower level, there's a man blocking the path who gets out of the way as soon as he sees that we have the Silver Wing. Obviously he's there to keep the player from messing up the plot by sequence breaking, but now I'm just thinking about what this man's life must be like. Just hanging out in the lower depths of the Whirl Islands cave network, all day, every day, just waiting for people to come by....
The world of Pokemon is a strange place.
there are two doors along the final descending path. The top one leads to a small balcony-like room, where one can see the ground floor far below. The only purpose of this room, as far as I know, is that it has a Rare Candy in it. It's so insignificant that it's not even in Bulbapedia's map files, or else I'd link it. I just want to call attention to it, though, because this view is gorgeous. This is the most blown away by Gen IV's enhancements I've felt since Route 47.
Outside the lower entrance, I swap Nimbly into the lead position, save in case anything goes wrong, and enter.
Inside, the music has stopped. The Kimono Girls are all standing there. Zuki says that this is where they welcome Lugia. When their dance becomes one with the Tidal Bell they gave us, then Lugia will appear.
Their plan outlined, they perform the dance, and once again, Gen IV manages to make this look phenomenal. Just watch this. This is what enhanced remakes are for: this took a scene that young me could only imagine through the Game Boy graphics, and realized it.
The Kimono Girls confirm that that is indeed Lugia, guardian of these islands since ancient times. So many have tried and failed to summon it, but with our heart "in complete harmony with the Tidal Bell," we have finally allowed it to appear. They conclude that Lugia must have been waiting for someone like us this whole time, which explains all the Chosen One vibes the Kimono Girls have been giving us throughout this entire game.
Another save, a short Surf to where Lugia awaits us (there's no music at all in this room even when you Surf, which is a great touch,) and the battle begins.
Lugia has a special encounter theme, which is fantastic. It really sets the mood for what a big deal this encounter is. This isn't some random bats or rats scurrying around some random cave. This is Lugia.
Lugia is level 45, coming in just barely under my level 48 team. The levels are close, but Lugia is a Legendary. It is sure to put my team to shame on stats and powerful moves, though Nimbly does have three levels and a type advantage over it.
My goal is to have Nimbly break off large chunks of Lugia's health, then swap in Omnihunter for more careful and surgical removal the last bits with False Swipe, then swap in Hunter to put it to sleep, then throw Dusk Balls at it until one of them works. On a guess, I decide that a full-power Super Effective Night Slash probably won't one-hit KO Lugia (if it does, I saved.) Let's see how it goes!
Lugia uses Extrasensory, which does nothing because Nimbly is immune to Psychic. Nimbly answers with Night Slash, which hits for about 60-70% or so of Lugia's health. Definitely enough that I can't do that again, so that's the first phase down in one move.
I switch in Omnihunter, who eats a Hydro Pump for about 25-30% of his health. Next turn, Lugia goes first and Aeroblasts for... uh... all of his remaining health, because it scored a critical hit. Well, then.
Nimbly is back in, just to hold the line while I revive Omnihunter. While I use a Revive, Lugia sets up Rain Dance. While I use a Hyper Potion, Lugia Aeroblasts Nimbly for... 100% health, one-hit knockout, because it scored a critical hit again. This Aeroblast is going to be a problem, isn't it.
Omnihunter comes back in. Lugia Hydro Pumps for about 45% health. False Swipe scores a critical hit, and that knocks Lugia all the way down to 1 HP. Right, there was more difficulty than anticipated, but that's phase two down.
Hunter switches in just in time to eat... Lugia trying to do another Rain Dance while the first Rain Dance was already in effect, and failing. Thanks for the opening?
Lugia tries and fails to Rain Dance again. Hunter tries Hypnosis and misses. The rain stops.
I try that again, but Lugia opens the next round with Extrasensory, which is Super Effective. Hunter explodes into a fine mist, of course. She never stood a chance against that one.
Omnihunter comes back in just so I can revive Hunter. Lugia uses Extrasensory again. Unlike the regular-variety Hunter, Omnihunter is strong against Psychic, so it doesn't do as much damage. However, it still puts Omnihunter at low health--another Hydro Pump or Aeroblast would destroy him. I use a Hyper Potion on Omnihunter, and Lugia (successfully, this time) sets up another Rain Dance. I use a Fresh Water to bring Hunter back to full health, and Lugia uses Extrasensory (still mostly ineffective against Omnihunter.) This is as good an opening as I'll ever get, so I switch again.
Hunter switches into a Hydro Pump which kills her instantly.
:|
Omnihunter back, Revive Hunter, Lugia tries and fails to Rain Dance. Clearly there is no point in trying to restore Hunter from half health since any direct hit will kill her anyway, so this is close enough.
Hunter switches into an Extrasensory. Ow.
I revive Hunter, Omnihunter eats a Hydro Pump. Hunter switches into another Hydro Pump and faints again.
Okay, this clearly isn't working. New strategy.
Omnihunter in, revive Hunter again. Lugia uses Extrasensory, it's not very effective. Omnihunter is at about 30% health remaining. I start throwing balls. The only way Hunter will ever get into this battle is as a revenge deployment off of Omnihunter's sacrifice. Even then, the only way she'll get Hypnosis off is if Lugia wastes her turn on Rain Dance. Even then, Hypnosis is only 70% accurate. I'm just going to accept that getting a lucky break on every "if" in that sequence all in a row is unlikely to happen. Lugia is already at 1 HP and I have Dusk Balls, so let's just hope that's enough. If Omnihunter goes down again, I can try for Hunter then, I guess.
Dusk Ball attempt number one fails, and Lugia answers with Aeroblast, fainting Omnihunter. Oops. I guess we'll get to try that strategy out sooner than planned.
Hunter is in and I have her try for Hypnosis. Lugia goes first and... Extrasensory. Nope.
Auryn is in because everyone else is either down or a non-combatant. Plan C: Revive Omnihunter and switch back to him, then keep him in permanently, using either Dusk Balls or Hyper Potions each round depending on his health.
I revive Omnihunter, and Aeroblast hits Auryn for about 45%. I use a Hyper Potion on Omnihunter, and Extrasensory hits for barely anything because Auryn is strong against it too. Omnihunter switches into an Aeroblast, which doesn't crit for once and hits for about 40%.
A Dusk Ball catch attempt fails. Extrasensory doesn't hit very hard, but it brings Omnihunter down to the zone where I worry about another Aeroblast/Hydro Pump.
Hyper Potion. Extrasensory.
Dusk Ball (fail). Extrasensory.
Dusk Ball (fail). Extrasensory.
Dusk Ball (fail). Extrasensory.
Wait.
Oh God, Lugia is running out of PP, isn't it? Is that why it's spamming Extrasensory now? Is it out of other moves? How many Hydro Pumps and Aeroblasts has it used so far?
I went back and reread all of my previous narration of this battle. By my count, Lugia has used 13 of Extrasensory and 5 each of Aeroblast, Hydro Pump, and Rain Dance. A quick Bulbapedia check confirms that those last three only have 5 PP each, and Extrasensory has 20. Which means, yes, Lugia is slowly running out of PP. I have seven more rounds of it spamming Extrasensory to try to catch it. Once it's completely out, it will use Struggle, whose recoil damage will make it faint instead.
Plan D: Throw Dusk Balls for the next seven rounds and don't stop for anything. I don't care who's left standing. If Lugia Struggles, it's a wipe/load anyway.
Three rounds of this all-out approach is enough to faint Omnihunter. Three more is enough to faint Auryn. Out of combatants, but with one round to go before this all goes belly-up anyway, I send in Bladewings. What's Lugia going to do? Make me lose the battle?
The seventh and final Extrasensory scores a critical and downs Bladewings in one hit, which brings me to Drake, my sixth and final Pokemon. Balls have top priority, and would go before Lugia moves, so I have exactly one more shot at this. It would be the most miraculous...
Nope. Lugia breaks free and... uses Extrasensory? Huh. I must have miscounted somewhere. Still, the end result is the same; that is more than enough to shred through Drake and wipe my party.
So. That didn't go well.
Okay. We can use this to put together a better strategy on the next attempt. What have we learned from this?
- Either use Hunter early or not at all, most likely the latter. The only way she even has a chance of getting Hypnosis off is if Lugia happens to use Rain Dance on the same round, which becomes impossible after Lugia rus out of PP for it early on. It's far too much effort and sacrifice for even one chance at a move that's not very accurate, and would only keep Lugia asleep for so many rounds even if it did work.
- The main tank in the final phase, when I need someone to hold the line while I just keep throwing Dusk Balls, should be Nimbly's job, not Omnihunter's. Nimbly is 100% immune to Extrasensory.
- Speaking of Extrasensory, I looked more carefully at Bulbapedia and the miscount was because it had 30 PP in Gen IV. It has 20 PP now, which is where I got confused.
Putting this all together, I think that phase one of the next attempt (lead with Nimbly, use Night Slash) will be unchanged. Phase two (switch to Omnihunter, use False Swipe until Lugia has 1 HP) was... tricky last time, but I still think that's the best strategy I have. Phase three, though, is where we need a revised plan. Instead of using Hunter at all, let's try switching back to Nimbly, having an invincible standoff (as Lugia's last remaining move does nothing to her) where I'm free to throw ten or twenty Dusk Balls before Struggle ends the battle.
This is going to be a novel-length entry if I record all subsequent battle attempts in as much detail as that one, so I might just have to gloss over the later attempts a little. Just know that I'll be going for the general strategy outlined in the previous paragraph, Reviving and Hyper Potioning everyone if something goes wrong, and I'll let you know if anything out of the ordinary happens.
Battle attempt number two: Everything went according to plan and went much more smoothly. The endgame was certainly much less stressful once Lugia exhausted everything but Extrasensory. That part worked perfectly; there was nothing more it could do to hurt Nimbly at that point. The only way it could stop me was to break out of every ball I threw at it, run out the clock, and Struggle itself to death. Which, unfortunately, it did.
Battle attempt number three: I spent a few more rounds than strictly necessary tanking hits with Omnihunter even after getting Lugia down to 1 HP, mostly because I wanted to heal Nimbly before potentially switching into the damaging moves that Lugia still had available. Still, everything went according to plan once again up to Nimbly's return. Once Nimbly was in again, we weren't in the invincible clear zone yet because Lugia still had Aeroblast. Still, it was a relatively smooth "use Balls and then Potions when needed" sort of deal. Early into this phase, a lucky catch actually went off! With a final tally of Lugia having used all 5 Hydro Pump but only 3 Extrasensory, 1 Aeroblast, and 3 Rain Dance, I actually caught the blasted thing with a Heavy Ball.
Whew. Good Lord, I know catching Legendaries is an ordeal, but... that was an ordeal.
The Kimono Girls are impressed to the point of speechlessness ("You are so wonderful. There is nothing more for us to say.") The best they can offer is to bid us to take care of ourselves on our journey, and say hello to Professor Elm for them.
Outside the caves, Camper Todd calls us for a rematch. He'll be waiting for us on Route 34. I feel like the next entry is going to be all about tying up loose ends like this before pressing onto the endgame, so we'll take care of him then.
For now, there is but one thing left to do in this entry. The Kimono Girls have done so much to prepare and execute the summoning of Lugia. They trained and practiced and perfected their dance. They guided us throughout our journey. Everything they've done has been in service of this legendary Pokemon, a revered and worshiped guardian from ancient times. Lugia chose us to appear, and we captured it after several attempts at an epic battle in which we gave it everything we had. This is no ordinary Pokemon. A God walks among us, and for the sake of everyone over the countless centuries who made this possible, we must dutifully and reverently complete the ritual for it.
Amen.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 02:22 am (UTC)*reach bottom image*
I lovehate you, Celine.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 07:06 am (UTC)On a slightly more serious note, congratulations on defeating the dragon god of the seas and stuffing him into a itty bitty plastic ball.
Except he's not a dragon. Or a god. Or a he. Also Kyogre is the lengedary in charge of the oceans yeah pokemon mythology is about to get confusing as balls.
Once upon a time, Lugia supposedly roosted in Ecruteak City atop the Brass Tower. Due to... things we will get into later when you go visit Ho-oh, Lugia left over a hundred years ago, and disappeared off into the Whirl Islands.
Lugia may or may not have anything to do with the Legendary Bird Trio, it's really pretty vague as to what's going on there. The anime definitely makes a connection, and Lugia tends to show up alongside the Birds more often than not, but it's also not really explored to any extent, and the link is somewhat tenuous at best.
Inspired by a jumble of stuff like whales, oceanic dinosaurs and a heron of all things, Lugia is probably most prominently closest mythologically to Ryujin, the japanese dragon god of the sea. But, again, this gets a whole lot muddier when Kyogre shows up later in the past. However, this definitely lines up with the duality that Ho-oh and Lugia have going on, with Lugia being the dragon to Ho-oh's phoenix; that's also why Lugia is usually a He, due to chinese dragons being associated with yang, water, and the male essence, whereas the phoenix represents fire and yin and femininity. Femaleness. Yeah that. Despite the fact that Lugia's typing is... er, let's just say "not correct"?
Lugia also dies for your sins so he is the true Bird Jesus shut up twitch.
On a somewhat related note, the Tidal Bell that you used to call Bird Jesus is a Suzu bell used in Shintoism. Small, handheld suzu are often used in pieces of music associated with Shinto mysticism (which is why you can distinctly hear them in this gorgeous ear porn but enough of THAT sidetrack) but larger suzu tend to be hung up at the entrances to Shinto shrines. Ringing them is supposed to call the kami and ward off evil. This explains why there are two massive suzu tied up to the rocks in Lugia's on what appears to be Shimenawa ropes.
It also explains why they're all over the frickin place in the Burned Tower.
Fun fact: 'suzu' refers to both the bells themselves and the tin used to forge them. This is why the Burned Tower was originally called the Bell Tower, but also Tin Tower, since it's the same word in Japanese. Endless bickering by johto historians as to the correct reading aside, that's a neat little double meaning.
On a less rambling note, congratulations on conquering the idol of furry perversion. Please don't lewd the dragon god.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 04:45 pm (UTC)So is that a suzu sound that features so prominently in the Lugia summoning dance? It sure sounds like it, and that would be a brilliant touch to incorporate the instrument into the song that plays there. (And the song that plays there is ear porn, too, speaking of.)
And come on, I was making remarks about the dragon god's feet way back in the first entry about the title screen. It's way too late to stop now.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 05:33 pm (UTC)Actually, that just makes their entire presentation in this game all the more cohesive. They're old shintoist practitioners. They're not at the dance hall because they're just girls who like dancing, it's part of their religion. They're a living part of Ecruteak's cultural history. They're taking the whole mediate-with-the-spiritual very seriously.
That also firmly plants Lugia in the realm of kami, which makes a lot of sense. In an animist sense, Lugia isn't so much 'god' as a force of nature, and a manifestation of the essence of something like a place or a thing. That begs the question of just what role the towers played in their story, however. Did the people of this land build them to honor these two great kami, or did the kami themselves spring from the shrines that were built in the city? I definitely get the impression that it's the former, but that just leaves the mystery of where the heck Ho-oh and Lugia originally came from.
All the same, it's nice to see that the tradition of miko being incredibly badass is alive and well. These nice ladies apparently maintain the sacred shrines AND managed to beat you to the secret cave on the island full of bullshit and whirlpools.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 06:10 pm (UTC)(−) I forget whether we've ever brought up the “Pokémon is largely light fluffy Shinto” hypothesis here, but it's our ambient background default for just about eeeeeverything in those games. c..c
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 06:23 pm (UTC)Of the non-subterranean variety.
That said it also tries to incorporate a little bit of everything including the kitchen sink.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 06:58 pm (UTC)The Internet will cite it as proof that GameFreak has run out of ideas or whatever.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 07:34 pm (UTC)☢️CAUTION!!☢️CAUTION!!☢️
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 11:12 pm (UTC)Ecruteak itself is a town that beats you over the head with its entire thing being reverent traditional adherence, and why it got so much more noticeably Wutai in the HG/SS version (with its theme all shamisen'd up and everything.) I am not surprised that this is where the
Bell/TinBurned and Brass Towers are, and that the Kimono Girls inherited all this sudden plot relevance and connection to the box art legendary quests. If anything, it makes it seem like something was missing when they weren't this important in original G/S (not sure about C; haven't played.)no subject
Date: 2018-04-21 01:43 am (UTC)thirstyexistence.no subject
Date: 2018-04-21 07:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-21 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-21 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 08:55 am (UTC)Ah, the perfect name for—
…
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 04:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 01:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 04:47 pm (UTC)