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Yeah, you can use any bike rack in the game to get on or off your bike. It's a cute little feature, but overshadowed by the fact that you can just... use the select button.
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May 14, 2019 20:51
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Good news everyone! All of my previous LPs are now archived! Pokemon Emerald, Pokemon Conquest, Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD are all there.
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May 16, 2019 19:06
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Part 7: Rollin' In The Deep  Get your spelunking hats on, it's time to go Underground!  The Underground   Welcome to Sinnoh's Underground! Huh? Where is this, you ask? Doesn't the Radar make it obvious? This is a giant underground network of passages underneath Sinnoh. Huh? What am I doing down in this expanse of a place? That's kind of hard to answer. I mean, you can do pretty much anything you want down here. For instance, you can dig up Treasures, Spheres, and make a Secret Base. You can play with your friends down here, too. You should talk to the Underground Man in Eterna City. I have to get going now. I'll see you around!  Well Roark is returning to his home planet, so we're on our own to figure out this massive place. There's a lot to do in this place, and I mean a lot of it, and we'll see most of it! Let's check our "Trainer Card".  This is a sample of the stuff we can do here, but all we needed to do was head into the Underground, so let's head back up.   No matter where you go in the underground, you'll always pop up where you used the Explorers Kit, but where you use it determines where in the expansive map you end up in, with each section only accessible from specific areas. I won't be really using the Underground much past this update, so I won't show off the various areas you can use.        The Underground is a place where you can go with friends. You might try setting those Traps when you're down there with others. Now, what should I assign you next... How was it in the Underground tunnels? Big and empty, I would think. But that's only because you are a novice spelunker! There are many hidden things down there that are not visible to the eye. For my next test, I want you to dig up some Treasures or Spheres for me. While underground, check the Radar for yellow spots. Go to such a location and search for Treasure using the Touch Screen.  All the action is down on the touch screen since we'll need to find spots to dig with the radar.   There's various Hikers in and around the passages that'll sell you various Goods and Traps for Spheres, or accept your Treasures for Spheres. Getting Spheres is easy enough, it's getting them at a large enough size that's a pain. Each vendor changes their items and prices each day and most decorations are obtained this way, from Plants, to most Dolls, to Tools, which are traps that can be endlessly triggered, to most other random Goods.  There's a lot of traps, but they're basically useless if you're not using multiplayer. There's a fair few scattered around the Underground and you can even set off ones you put down yourself. We won't be bothering with these.  You can ping in any area to find where there are digging spots, as well as hidden traps.   Let's get into the main meat of this place!   "Digging for Treasure and Spheres!" I've put a sledgehammer and pickax in your Explorer Kit! Use them, and you'll be able to touch walls to dig out all sorts of stuff! I'm sure you can dig them out before the wall comes tumbling down! You can do it! Good luck, youngster!  This pretty intense minigame has you tap on walls with a sledgehammer to remove most of the dirt, and then the pickaxe to slightly chip away and finish digging out the item. We got pretty lucky to begin with by getting a Treasure. Each digging spot has 1-4 items in them and there's a 20% chance one of those items will be a Treasure. It ranges from all sorts of stuff, from old evolution stones, to fossils, to shards and even stuff like Heart Scales, Everstones and Revives. There's a ton of items you can get down here, though most of the fossils and the rarer items like the evolution stones become available and more common after you've beaten the game.   Even if the wall collapses, you'll still obtain everything you dug up, but if you have someone else nearby, they can also join in the digging and uncover stuff with weakening the wall. It's pretty broken!   Let's see what else we can get. These iron chunks can't be dug through and are only there to waste tool useage.     Spheres are the main thing you'll get from this, ranging from a small shape, only being from size 1-11, to a larger shape, size 11-21. Red, Blue and Green are the most common, with Pale and then Prism being the rarest.   Ah dammit. Since Wireless Communication is always on for this place, movement lags a bit so walking into traps is much more likely than you'd expect. It means lots of people can instantly play with each other, but also means if you're by yourself, it's a waste of battery and movement frames.   Traps usually have two levels to them, so this one only has a few bubbles to pop, while the Bubble Trap has many more. Nearby people can also save you from traps, or just set more traps next to you like a dick.   It's a good thing shards are so common, we're gonna need a lot of them!   Crap! Too late we find a large Prism Sphere, the rarest one. Oh well, not like I'll really use them.   Not too long after that, we hit the jackpot. Fossils are pretty rare, but it's the main reason I came down here. The Skull and Armor fossils are version exclusive, so Diamond with Skull and Pearl with Armor. In Platinum, it's instead based on the last digit of your Trainer ID, odd for Skull, even for Armor. The rarity of treasures is also determined by this, making certain evolution stones, weather rocks and postgame fossils more common depending on the version, or indeed, the ID number. This was something I had to make sure about when I started the game, since this Skull fossil will be our next team member! Though we'll have to wait a little bit before we can revive it, it's not too useful in its current form!  That's the main reason I kept digging for stuff, I wouldn't stop until I found it, so let's head back up.       Fossils and Stones can be dug up and brought out from down under. Spheres, which are gems, cannot be brought out, but they can be exchanged for goods down there. Now, what should I assign you next...? My tests aren't over yet! Next, let's use some Spheres! The Spheres one can find underground are very peculiar. When buried in the ground, they grow daily, a little bit at a time. I want you to go bury these strange Spheres in the Underground. That is my latest test!  Woo, riveting. There's a bit more to this than first appears. Firstly, you can bury multiple of the same kind of sphere in one spot, thus adding to its size. While the max is 99 for size, don't start mashing all your big spheres up, since past the first sphere, the second sphere is put through (X/5)+1, rounded down. UNLESS, the sphere buried first has grown, therefore making the largest sphere otherwise be added to the total. So if you have a 3 size sphere and a 20 size sphere on top, then it'll result in a size 8 sphere. But if the size 3 has grown to size 4 before you add the sphere, or add another sphere after that, then it'll become size 24, plus whatever you add (X/5)+1, unless it's now the biggest sphere. So when you add spheres smaller than the largest one already buried, you should only put in multiples of 5, since it'll round down and be wasted otherwise. Or not, doesn't really matter. Red, Blue and Green grow faster than Pale and then Prism spheres.   Oh yeah, make sure to add treasures to your actual bag! And don't forget where you've buried your spheres, you'll automatically pick them up like a trap, so there's no checking after the fact. Especially remember where you've put them if you won't be using multiplayer.   Just don't forget where you've buried your Spheres. Anyway, well done! This is your reward!  They wander about in the underground tunnels seeing Spheres. They'll happily trade you items for big Spheres. Now, what shall I assign you next...? Have you grown weary of repeatedly going back to the Underground? Well, it's not over yet! Next up is your Secret Base! That's right, I will teach you have to make your own Secret Base! All you need is the Digger Drill I gave you earlier. Simply go underground and use the Digger Drill wherever you like. That will instantly make you your very own Secret Base! So, you next assignment is: go make your own Secret Base!   So what are we gonna do with all these Goods we've been obtaining? Well, decorate a Secret Base of course! It's a little different to RSE, especially since we have all these drat boulders in the way, but the concept is still the same. We will definitely collect some stuff and make a brand new, underground goon cave! Much more at home than in a tree, or in a cave. Uh, I hope.   Each Secret Base has a flag which you can steal from other people and add to your collection. Hope you're able to do that, cause it's very important!!!   This is only if your leave your base open. If you're inside and decorating, no one can enter, but as soon as you leave and Wireless Communications are back on, then anyone can enter and steal your flag. Oh no!  I thought I might have been asking too much of you, but you did it! Well done! Take these as your reward!    Incidentally, a Digger Drill can be used only once. If you wish to move your Secret Base, you will need to obtain another Digger Drill. You can trade a Sphere for one underground. What should I make you do next... Hm! You've stuck it out to the end! This is my final test. You've made yourself a Secret Base, but it's totally empty, is it not? Not to worry! You can decorate your own Secret Base as you see fit! So! For my final test, I want you to decorate your Secret Base. Use furniture and interior goods to give your Secret Base character!  Pretty easy for the final task, though obviously we're constrained a bit. At least dolls no longer need to be placed on something and some decorations are interactable, such as the bookcase telling us how many fossils we've dug up.   Don't forget to close the door when you're decorating! We don't want any visitors getting hurt by walking in on you! Also, if you want to place goods you've received, store them in the PC first. Anyway, well done! This is your reward!  You can grow Spheres you've found and trade them for goods. It's also possible to obtain goods from friends. I've taught you all I know, but if you insist, there is one more thing I should tell you. The Secret Base you've made has Big Boulders that get in the way, yes? There is actually a way of moving those boulders aside... however, the task may be dangerous for you. I suppose I could tell you how when you get better as a spelunker...  Fine! I will tell you, but only because you're exceptional! You know that you may go underground with your friends, correct? That means your friends are certain to have Secret Bases of their own. Now, this is what you must do: first, find a friend's Secret Base. Next, go to the PC and steal your friend's Flag. Then, run back to your Secret Base and take the Flag to your PC! If you can do that, I will permit you to move boulders. Flag Capture! I can not do that, or probably could, but cheating past it is just easier. While the Underground Man will not acknowledge my hacking, thus we won't get the praise we deserve...     The game doesn't give two shits. For every flag we steal, our own flag gets slowly upgraded until we hit 50. The music even changes when you steal a flag! So let's see what rewards from the Underground Man we missed out on if we managed to steal 1 flag: Ah! My spelunker! Are you spelunking with your friends? It's a hundred times more fun to play with friends underground! If you manage to steal a Flag from a friend's Secret Base, you be sure to come show me! Wait! Don't tell me! You've captured a Flag? Excellent! You should already be capable of moving Big Boulders inside your Secret Base! You can shunt aside a boulder by storing it like furniture. Anyway, well done! This is your reward!We get a Pretty Gem, which is something we an decorate our base with, our flag becomes bronze, the ability to remove three boulders and can have up to 12 decorations in our Secret Base. There really is nothing else that I can teach you. If you wish to put away more Big Boulders or put out more goods, keep capturing more Flags. Become the spelunking master for me!3 Flags captured: Ah, you've captured three Flags! Well done! Take this as your reward!We get a Shiny Gem, same as before, our flag becomes silver, two more boulders to remove and up to 15 decorations, the maximum. Now for 10 flags captured: Ah, you've captured ten Flags! Well done! Take this as your reward!We get a Mystic Gem, our flag becomes gold, five more boulders to remove and something else we'll cover in just a sec. Finally, is FIFTY flags: Oh! Oh! My goodness! You've captured fifty Flags! Fantastic! Take this as your reward!We get the Glitter Gem, our flag becomes, well, platinum, and we get a Trainer Card star. Yes, already, you can get this before the SECOND GYM! This won't be the last one we get before beating the game, actually, it's quite nice being able to space them out a bit. You have been outstanding! There really is nothing left to teach you. From now on, you are the spelunking master! For reaching Gold, we get a few radars to help us with our hunting. The first tells you of all the mining spots in the entire Underground, which come back over time.  The second shows where you've buried any Spheres. Remember that all of this is tied to local multiplayer, but at least that stills works a treat compared to the... other multiplayer stuff.  Third tells you of all the buried traps in the Underground. Meh. Now that's much better. We'll come back to decorate this base later, since we don't have all decoration options available to us! And that's everything you can do in the Underground. There's definitely a lot here, even if you don't have any friends, though tying stuff like locating Spheres and having a clear Secret Base to tedious flag stealing is real lovely. You can steal the same flag again and again, but you also need to talk to a fair few people, otherwise you can't complete the Pokedex! Well, you can also exit and enter the Underground and talk to the same person multiple times, that will count towards the total. Still not as bad as Honey trees, I guess. Oh dammit, I'll have to talk about that soon. Uh, anyway, there's still loads of good stuff down here and you can absolutely spend hours getting Spheres, burying them, collecting treasure, and trading for all kinds of stuff. It's a lot of fun!   Let's go around some more and dig up some cool stuff. We absolutely do not need these Leaf Stones.  ...or not? You can get a BSOD in this place? That's pretty scary! Or maybe it's because I'm on an emulator. Anyway, make sure you come up every now and then so you can save your progress.     It feels like one out of every five mining spot yields treasure. That I find and dig up, anyway. But that's about it for now, next time we'll finish up on a few things around Eterna City and then finally head south!
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May 18, 2019 00:35
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It's not very often we obtain our next team member before we can nickname it, so what do we call our prehistoric future friend?
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May 18, 2019 00:36
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I remember wanting to use a Shieldon as a party member when I was a lad. Then I never found his fossil so that... wasn't successful. Skeletor.
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May 18, 2019 00:48
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Ah, the Underground. What a weird place that you'll totally not be visiting ever again, nope. There's definitely not an underground event. As for a prehistoric fossil? Well... How about Rex? Rex sounds like a pretty prehistoric name, doesn't it? If you're not gonna be hacking in the other fossil, the thing from the Skull Fossil even kinda looks like one!
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May 18, 2019 00:54
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What gen are we in? This is Gen 6 right? So you're getting Tyrunt for your next mon?  vvv Oh, dude, same there. BlackPersona fucked around with this message at 01:14 on May 18, 2019 |
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May 18, 2019 01:01
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You know what's not fun? Playing in the Underground while emulating and then running into one of those traps you need to blow into the microphone to get out of. While your computer has no microphone. 
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May 18, 2019 01:11
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You can set up some emulators to play random noise or a pre-recorded sound when you press a button.
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May 18, 2019 01:12
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LiefKatano posted:
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May 18, 2019 01:14
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the underground is both extremely cool and absurdly clunky, with lots of neat stuff to grab in the most roundabout laggy way Truly the most gamefreak creation of all time THOSE STONES, THOUGH, are probably the most annoying part. I remember spending ages underground trying to get the stones because they are inexplicably the only way to get more of the 4 standard stones and I wanted the pokedex drat it. Serebii claims they become "uncommon" instead of "very rare" but neither serebii nor bulbapedia have actual rates attached but there is so much garbage you will find instead. Platinum helped by having a few more evolution stones scattered about but getting these stupid things was such a nightmare for gens 3, 4, 5 and partly 6.
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May 18, 2019 01:42
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What if we took the secret bases from Hoenn, and filled them with boulders that can only be removed by playing multiplayer? Everyone lives in Japan and has high population density right? At least it's a good source of heart scales, farming Luvdiscs in XY was tedious as hell
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May 18, 2019 01:48
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The Underground was the best thing in this generation and I hate that Gamefreak has never brought it back.  I remember borrowing a friend's DS for an hour just to steal his flag a bunch of times.
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May 18, 2019 04:34
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Yeah, Skulletor is a good name.
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May 18, 2019 04:55
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I nominate Bulkhead for our new teammate's name.
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May 18, 2019 06:17
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AradoBalanga posted:I nominate Bulkhead for our new teammate's name. Bulkhead and Skull
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May 18, 2019 06:59
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I’d like to suggest Headbutt due to what the fossil becomes. It just seems fitting
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May 18, 2019 07:01
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The Underground kicked immense amounts of rear end, I remember spending hours chipping away at walls looking for fossils. I never realized that there was a function to have your friends help, though... guess that happens when you don't live in a place where people are packed in like sardines. Gotta go with Skulletor for the name, I already know I can't beat that.
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May 18, 2019 07:14
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AradoBalanga posted:I nominate Bulkhead for our new teammate's name. Voting for Bulkhead.
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May 18, 2019 12:31
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Procrastine posted:Voting for Bulkhead.
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May 18, 2019 18:06
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Bulkhead is a fantastic name... for Shieldon. But we're getting the Skull Fossil for Cranidos, yeah? So I'm going with Skulletor.
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May 18, 2019 18:39
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BisbyWorl posted:The Underground was the best thing in this generation and I hate that Gamefreak has never brought it back. Yeah I definitely loved the underground, dug up many many fossils in my time. And I had a fat DS and a DS lite, so I just stole my Diamond flag a bunch when I got all the trainer stars in Platinum.
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May 18, 2019 19:36
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Votes so far! Skulletor: 5 Bulkhead: 4 Headbutt: 1 Tyrunt: 1 Rex: 1
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May 18, 2019 21:10
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Bulkhead
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May 18, 2019 21:11
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AweStriker posted:Yeah, Skulletor is a good name. idk what bulkhead is but skeletor, now that's something i care about
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May 18, 2019 21:21
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Bulkhead
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May 18, 2019 21:41
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Bulkhead makes me think of Transformers Animated so Bulkhead it is.
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May 18, 2019 21:55
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Skulletor for the skull throne.
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May 18, 2019 21:56
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Solumin posted:Bulkhead is a fantastic name... for Shieldon. But we're getting the Skull Fossil for Cranidos, yeah? So I'm going with Skulletor.
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May 18, 2019 23:03
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werbear posted:Skulletor for the skull throne. agreeing so much
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May 18, 2019 23:48
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The Underground... it brings back good memories. I'm really hoping Gen 8 brings it back!! werbear posted:Skulletor for the skull throne.
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May 19, 2019 02:22
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Well it might only apply to London, but perhaps the one thing they choose to adapt... is the Underground! The nickname will be Skulletor!
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May 19, 2019 11:55
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Huzzah, I sorta contributed something
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May 20, 2019 01:12
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Whew, I’m caught up. Like I said in your EO thread, this is the only generation I don’t know at all. My favorite part so far is how dumb Team Galactic grunts are. Keep it up!
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May 21, 2019 02:00
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Part 8: Spooky Scary Cycling  You know, people've been talking about the ghost Pokemon of the Old Chateau. I've been hearing rumours about sinister shadows, too. I should check it out myself, but going in there is... ...well, you know, being that I'm a Gym Leader, I'm always busy. So, since I'm so busy, I can't go in. It's not because I'm s-scared! S-so, good luck with your investigation!  I'm sure this place isn't a big deal. R-Right?   All the plates have 6 set phrases that cycle in the order you pick them up. Gotta pick up all 16! Old Chateau  Well it's a bit dusty, but everything seems fine.   Mmm, sweet, sweet, candy.  There was a specific implication in DP that had an Antidote hidden in one of the trash cans. More useful than the Honey, that's for sure.   drat moon speak.   This Old Gateau here in the Old Chateau is similar to the Lava Cookie in being a Full Heal. Want another one? Start a new game, or get it from the Pokewalker.  Eh, just cause there's more TMs doesn't mean they're all winners.   Woah... did you just see that?! The picture seems like it's looking at you. But that's really just an optical illusion with how we look at a 2D image from different angles. Hmm, a ghost in another room? I can't see other rooms from where I am, keep up people.  I do get the feeling like I'm being watched, but it's my imagination.   Man, that TV is making a lot of noise, I should turn it off.   200 channels, nothing but electroplasma phantasms...   Wait I feel like a legendary is a little bit early in the LP! Rotom Encounter   In a unique encounter that befits a legendary... well, it isn't one, this was just moved from postgame to as soon as it's night time with Cut. Pretty good for something so early, with nice typing, good utility with Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray and Double Team, though it'll take a bit before its best move isn't Thundershock. Aside from that, it doesn't do much else, just throws out various Electric and Ghost moves, doing nothing more of note. In DP. I guess it does something else in this game, but you can't do that unless you trade to HGSS, so it's whatever.   Since it has a somewhat legendary catch rate, we'll definitely need to wear it down. But I have a secret plan.   Admittedly this is how all of my legendary plans will go.   But it works. God I love Dusk Balls.   But that was the source of everything spooky and there's definitely no- AHHHHHHH, A GHOST!!! Eterna City Night Still, is it really time already for an event that was only available for a short time and therefore impossible to do now? Why, yes it is!   You might think this is bullshit, but Wonder Cards these Mystery Gifts come from tell you where to go. At least this was obtainable over wifi, instead of being in a specific place in the world at a certain time, now you just had to have a specific connection at a specific time! Since I only had the regular DS, finding something that was WEP was hell. Uh, anyway, the Secret Key was distributed in Japan from Sep 28th to Nov 4th 2008 and then from Jan 16th to Mar 2nd 2009. Of course they got it twice. NA was from Apr 20th to May 12th 2009, which is hilarious short, all PAL regions had it from Jun 8th to July 19th 2009 and even Korea joined in with these events, getting it from July 6th to Aug 31st 2009. And that's it! Japanese players could at least send their Wonder Card to 5 others, but this was the only time to obtain this item. Even if they always kept it up, it would've died with the servers anyway, so oh well!    "Remarkably, ROTOM has the ability to enter and merge with special motors. It's now known that ROTOM can stay inside a motor almost indefinitely. However, it will emerge if it enters a Union Room or a Wi-Fi Club. ROTOM will also emerge from the motor if it is left at the Day Care. ROTOM may also forget certain moves when it leaves a motor. This Pokemon requires exhaustive observation and analysis. To ensure I get all the credit, my ROTOM research must be kept secret. They will come to recognize me as the scientific genius Char..."  So new to Platinum are 5 new Rotom forms where it enters different appliances and gets a new look, a new exclusive move to that form and a new typing. Oh wait, that last bit is next gen, but its stats do increase and looks pretty cool. We'll be using my favourite form, and my fourth favourite Pokemon in general, Rotom HEAT as the example.  These exclusive moves really affect how a form works out, with Wash learning Hydro Pump, Mow learning Leaf Storm, Frost learning Blizzard and Fan learning, snrk, Air Slash. It can only have that move in that form, and if it's the only move it knows when it leaves a form, it'll revert back to Thundershock. This makes regular Rotom less appealing, but it has its own strengths, and obviously some forms are waaaaaay better than others. But that's a discussion for another time.    You must be eager to fill your Pokédex to be searching even here. What am I doing? I visit a professor I know in Eterna every so often. He tells me intriguing rumors of rare Pokémon sightings and such.  That is somewhat off from what I've heard about it. Hmm... This is what I've heard. Long ago, there was a Pokémon that merged with a toy robot. Should that Pokémon be recognized as a new species or not... Debates over the issue were about to start when they were rendered moot. The very topic of discussion--the Pokémon-infused robot--disappeared...  In the process, it may also learn new moves. In a way, I suppose it could be thought of as a mechanical Pokémon. Hmm...! Though it is utterly unique, it is undeniably a form of Pokémon. Fine, fine, so be it! No matter how old one gets, there will always be new Pokémon discoveries! Take care, Hikari!  So since all the Rotom forms in this generation are the same type, they're not too different to before, but the additional coverage move and higher stats definitely help. Less Speed sucks, but hey, this stuff is heavy. Even now, Wash is still the best since its exclusive move doesn't hurt it too much, while Heat is a powerful move to go along with its other attacks. You might think Frost would work well, but Blizzard doesn't compare to HP Ice's consistency. Mow sees some use since Leaf Storm is a nice pickup, and Fan drew the poo poo straw, nothing Air Slash does can't be covered by the other forms. Since there's little difference between each form, it can use whatever it fancy to fit the team's needs, if not being particularly exciting otherwise. If the only way to obtain these forms is in this room, then how can you use Rotom today? Well, if you trade Rotom over to HGSS, you'll be able to use it to access the basement of Silph Co. and access an identical room there. Just that easy, probably. In any case, you can battle with it online no problem, so long as you avoided the Union Room and its online equivalent. This notebook has FIFTY screenshots of text, so I'll have it in its own thing at the end, as well as talking about each Rotom form individually, as you know them in Gen 5 on, so think of it like a little sneak peek into that LP. Route 205 Night  There's still plenty more to do around here, so let's get rid of all these drat trees.    I collect Berries and trade them for Accessories in Floaroma Town. I sometimes worry for days on end about what Accessories I should be putting on my Pokemon.  Early game sure is a trip, huh.  Ugh, honey tree.     Since it's night time, it's appropriate we get these two, both version exclusives that can't be found in Platinum, Murkrow in Diamond, Misdreavus in Pearl. They're both fine, but in those games the first Dusk Stone is after Gym 6, so you're saddled with these two for a long while. Wait until later to catch them.   Ooh, a female, gonna need 3 of those. ...because of course I'll get all the Wormadam forms. I don't know why, I'll never use one, but I will.   And there we go, we slathered 4 Honey trees and got... 3 Burmy and an Aipom. There's a fair host of Pokemon you can only obtain from these trees and some of them are pretty drat rare. Now wait 6 hours and try again!    I teach at the Trainers' School, and I'd like to give you a lesson. But before I do, I'd like you to have this TM.  Well, the move Captivate only works against the opposite gender. For example, it only works when used by a male Pokemon on a female. The move sharply lowers the target's Special Attack, or Sp. Atk for short. You also probably know this, but a TM is good for only one use. Choose the Pokemon wisely if you do decide to use it.I need an adult.  It is Friday, my dudes, so let's finally grab this mon!    Floating freely, Drifloon is a nice little mon that works a lot better in DP since it's encountered at level 22! Its high HP means you wait longer for its health to go down all the way, but it has the stats in the right place, but not really the moves. Gust is the best you'll get until it evolves, but it gets a wide variety of TMs and it can learn Air Cutter through tutor. That's really about it, so Pluck will have to do until you can finally find Shadow Ball. Least you're immune to a bunch of common stuff, but it's much easier to use in DP due to that crazy level difference.   gently caress, it is another Friday, my dudes.   After more heart attacks, at least we finally got it.  Now to legitimately obtain all the remaining Honey Tree Pokemon. I know, it's this easily, apparently! That's four Burmy now, three female, one male, it's important!   The main problem with Honey trees is, well, firstly waiting a million years to get the wrong Pokemon, but also due to it being impossible to really figure out which trees are special and have a 1% chance of being Munchlax. It is an absolute pain.    If you didn't think saving and resetting before Honey trees was too useful for Burmy, then this is the Pokemon you absolutely must. It has a 7/8 chance of being completely useless as only female Combee evolve. But when you do get the right gender, it's still a rough journey, even to that low evolution requirement. Like Burmy, Wurmple and Kricketot, man there's a lot of weak bugs in this game, Combee barely learns anything, only Gust and Sweet Scent, as well as Bug Bite and other tutor moves in Platinum. But its stats are just awful, so it won't do much even with some mediocre STAB. Surely something that takes so much effort to get must be worth it, right? Ehhhhhhhh... Honey Gather might be the worst ability in the series. It does do something, there's a chance after battle the Pokemon will obtain Honey if it's not holding an item, with the chance increasing with level, starting at 5% and going up by 5% every 10 levels. Firstly, wild Combee will have, guaranteed, Honey as a held item and it can be obtained super cheaply otherwise. It's a cute idea, but it is completely pointless. At least in PMD it can be used to obtain Nectar from treasure boxes to increase IQ by 10. I just found this out, goddammit. Also also, we'll need both genders for something later, so don't evolve your female just yet! Or do, I'm not the boss of you, now.   Heracross is the rarest Honey Tree Pokemon, only having a small chance of appearing, even on rare trees, since it only appears in one set of Pokemon at the lowest rate, which I'll go over shortly. A shame too, cause it's a real good Pokemon, learning Aerial Ace and Brick Break naturally and very quickly. No Bug moves until level 55 with Megahorn sucks as always, it doesn't even learn Bug Bite until HGSS tutors, but with all the physical TMs it can get, it'll be just fine, this thing is a monster, easy. And then it learns Close Combat before the lategame. Yeah.   And here's the actual rarest Honey Tree Pokemon. Only 4 trees out of 21 have a 1% chance of having Munchlax. That's loving ridiculous, the only indication a tree has a chance of having Munchlax is it spawning rarer Pokemon more often, since only one of two groups can spawn Munchlax. As always, it's needlessly complicated and I will devour it for you.    gently caress this thing. Not only is it stupidly hard to find, stupidly hard to catch, since it always holds Leftovers, it's also a happiness evolution. YIKES! Still, it's pretty good for a baby Pokemon, with all of its stats coming from its bottomed out Speed. It gets gently caress all for level up moves, so slap a Return TM on it and see it work wonders. Since it has a crazy strong evolution, it takes some of that and can use a million TMs and can learn a good chunk of everything. It'll always go second, and maybe Snorlax ain't as strong as it used to be, but even though it's an awful time, it's still kinda worth it. Well, maybe not, just trade over a Snorlax from HGSS and breed it, do NOT try and catch this thing, there's a reason Honey Trees are one of the worst mechanics in the series.   Oh hey, this wasn't unexpected, you usually get the Togepi Egg with a few steps already on it.   Anyway, this thing doesn't learn a single attacking move for a long time, since Eggs now start at level 1, if you want to use it on your team, firstly it's got a lot of catching up to do, even this early, happiness evolutions are awful, so it'll be useless for a while, and even Togetic ain't great since it'll be quite a while before it can evolve again. Also if it hatches with Hustle, it doesn't really matter since it doesn't use its physical attacks, or at least it can't anymore, but Serene Grace is so much better.   So anyway, we'll be using Togepi on our team. Yep, I know what I just said, which is why it's not a team member... yet. First, we need to evolve it, or we'll be having a sad time and then it needs some better moves, which will come soon enough. I like picking team members that are easy enough to obtain, but how about this time we have a bit of a challenge. After all, you can use whatever you want in the main game with enough time and care. Since it'll level up super easily, best boost the friendship gains. But that's everything around Eterna, let's finally head on.    I'm Professor Rowan's assistant and Lucas's father. I've come a long way to help you on your adventure at the professor's behest. Hikari, let me ask you, how many Pokemon have you met? Oh, my! You've met 63 Pokemon! Wonderful! Yes, bravo! Professor Rowan should be delighted! Here is something for you!  It will get Exp. Points even if it didn't actually battle. Therefore, it should be held by a Pokemon you want to raise quickly. Also, a Pokemon you get in a trade may disobey you if it is too high in level. Don't worry, though. It will obey if you enough Gym Badges. Bicycle  An early Exp Share and Cycling Road, good to get these out of the way early. It's one of those downhill slopes though, always a pain.  Here's the mascot, nothing too crazy unless it has a Light Ball, so shove a stone down its throat and move on. Get it from the Underground, since you won't get it in DP otherwise until just before Gym EIGHT. We'll find our stone before we find chus in this game at least.   "and awesome Trainers all around!"Eh, I think it's better than Hoenn's at least.      Yeah expect to see that a lot. Staravia is a nice early evolution that gets a nice stat boost in the right places. Return will only keep getting stronger and Pluck served you well in the Gym. But can you keep going until it evolves again? Well, yeah, Intimidate is one of the best abilities in the series, making you more physically bulky than you'd think. I haven't looked at its moves until now, I just know it's this good already. Sure any Ice or Electric attack coming your way will sink ya pretty fast. I guess Steel Wing wouldn't hurt eventually. It gets better, surprisingly enough.   This is the best "attacking" move Togepi gets until level 33. It's one of the reasons why it'll never really fight.   With all the catching we've been doing recently, it's nice to get the team doing stuff again.   Ooh, exp sack!    It's always that way with me! I might try racing through Cycling Road in one long shot.  I've had this bike like 5 mins, I should probably shift the seat...    Oh, geez... I seem to have fallen off my Bike. I should have challenged you to a race, not a battle!  I do like the route below, but I feel this place will be in the way when we go down there.   The 3-speed makes for easy turning, and the 4-speed's for going fast. I love them both!    Not too much here, but it's good to chill a bit.   Gotta be technique since if I go too fast, I can't show everything off!   As easy as that. We get 3 happiness per level, and with the Soothe Bell it becomes 4.5. So, uh, 4, but might as well!   Don't you think the area below Cycling Road looks nice?I'd visit it, but there's still 4 trainers left to fight.   Ah, memories.   Aww! Why did you beat me?! I hope you get so lost in Wayward Cave you cry! Boo-hoo-hoo!loving hell.      Hearthome is where they hold Pokemon Contests. You should dress up your Pokemon for Contests with your Accessories. Route 207 Day  We'll head to the lower area in a moment, but there's something important.  Since we visited this route before, and changed time a fair bit since, these berries are loooooong gone.   Alright, onto Mt. Coronet!   Interesting to see that we're on level with the opposing trainers, don't see that much.   Ah crap, an Electric mon with an Electric move. How rare.    I think we'll visit the TV station in Jubilife City next. Or maybe we should go to the Global Terminal? Dig for Fossils in the Underground. The mining museum might be able to bring back the ancient Pokemon!  Sneaky sneak... Lucas Encounter   Me? I'm always doing great! ...I wish... but that's not important. Lately, I've been experimenting with a couple of neat tools. Oh yeah. You want the Vs. Seeker. Yup, Hikari, you know what's important.  "you again." Hikari, what about a Poketch? Do you have one? Yup, you do. You can have this too, then. You deserve it for all your effort, Hikari.  The DOWSING MACHINE is... just try touching it. It'll alert you if there is an unseeable item on the ground. Try it out now. I think there's something here. OK, keep working on your Pokedex. Professor Rowan is counting on us! This is why we had to come all the way here, the Vs. Seeker is useless, it always is, I've never found much use rematching people. The Dowsing Machine is much better, hidden items can be very sneaky sometimes. But meeting was Lucas used to occur at the start of Route 207, but because you could go around via Floaroma Town to do that event from behind, you weren't able to leave Eterna City that way after getting the bike, which was a real pain since it stopped you getting to the Old Chateau and the other Cut trees if you hadn't done it yet.   Finally, Itemfinders are actually useful, though it gets improved upon from HGSS onward, since you can't use this while moving.  Now to head back and explore under Cycling Road, can't skip that!   gently caress! Oh well, let's just get this over with.   Remember how I usually have a status inflicter to make catching the entire Pokedex easier? Well, this is the move we'll be using! I'm serious, since Radium is an Electric type that doesn't naturally learn Thunder Wave and the TM is postgame! Great fun.   Ooh, good idea, there's something new to show off too.   So, shall we battle? I'll let you join my fan club if you can beat me!  On certain days in all Pokemon Centers starting from Jubilife, they'll be some trainers to fight, that have different teams depending on your badges. These trainers were found in Jubilife TV in DP with just the one team, but we should be able to fight them all over the course of the LP. Grace appears here on Tuesday and Thursday.   Roar can ruin some AI strategies, but it's not really worth it.  Well, that's me and my Pokemon! I hope you'll support us! Just so you know, our latest single is titled "Jigglin' Pokemon Wub"! Route 206 Day  Cutcutcutcutcut     These items are a real pain to find without the Dowsing Machine, it's why I beelined it asap. Though there's even worse stuff coming up.   If we were following the previous games, we'd have Great Balls and Super Repels available by now with all the towns we've visited.     Togepi has still been levelling, but it's been whatever most of the time.   And next time, we'll be exploring Wayward Cave. gently caress.
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May 24, 2019 21:25
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Side Notes 03: Honey, I'm the worst mechanic! So I've done a lot of bitching about this, but since I've washed my hands of Honey Trees, it's time to delve in why they're so awful. There's 21 trees around Sinnoh which, if you slather Honey on, will have a Pokemon appear 6 hours later, well, most of the time. There's a 10% chance the tree won't spawn anything and what is spawned is determined when you slather the tree, so if you don't like the Pokemon you get after 6 hours, then try again and wait another 6 hours! You can at least reset and change the specifics of the Pokemon, like gender, nature, IVs, etc. But, out of all of the trees, 4 of them are Munchlax trees. Which one of them is it? There's no real way to determine it, it's decided at the start of the game and based on Trainer ID and Secret ID. For those ones, rarer Pokemon have a higher chance of appearing and there's only a 9% chance of nothing being spawned, with the 1% being the Munchlax. And that's about it, so let's look into the specific numbers. Firstly, to determine which of the trees will be Munchlax ones, the Trainer ID and Secret ID are split into single bytes, as they're two byte values to begin with, with tree 1 determined by the lower byte of the Secret ID, tree 2 by the higher byte of the Secret ID and then trees 3 and 4 doing the same, but with the Trainer ID. These values are divided by 21, with the remainder used as the final value. All the numbers are checked against each other so they're not equal and increased by 1 if they are. If this results in one being 21, it'll become 0 instead. The final number determines which of the trees can spawn Munchlax. It's just that easy. Now that each tree is determined, what Pokemon will you get from each one? When you use Honey, firstly, the game rolls which group it'll use, Group A or Group B. Munchlax trees have a 70% chance of using Group B, a 20% chance of using Group A, 1% chance of using Munchlax, or a 9% chance of no encounter. It's swapped for no Munchlax trees, 70% for Group A, 20% chance for Group B and a 10% chance for no encounter. From there, it rolls which Pokemon will appear at a specific encounter chance, from this table:  So if you want to get Heracross, the rarest regular Honey tree Pokemon, it's got a 70% chance of appearing on a Munchlax tree AND THEN another 5% it'll get picked, between Burmy, Cherubi, Combee, Aipom, or Aipom. It's pretty ridiculous the rates involved for other Pokemon that aren't even Munchlax! But that's the easiest way to tell if you've gone a Munchlax tree, since Heracross is a 20% chance and then another 5% chance on a non-Munchlax tree. So with both of those chances, what are the proper encounter rates for these Pokemon? On a non-Munchlax tree, there's a 32% chance of finding Combee, a 22% chance of Burmy, 14% for Wurmple, 11% for Cherubi, 10% for Aipom and 1% for Heracross. And then 10% for no encounter. And you've got to wait 6 hours to roll this chance. It's ridiculous. For Munchlax trees, there's a 32% chance of Burmy, 22% chance of Combee, 16% for Cherubi, 12% for Aipom, 4% for Wurmple, 4% for Heracross and then 1% for Munchlax. Oh yeah, how much the tree shakes before you encounter the Pokemon usually determines what Group the Pokemon is from, 0 shakes is a 72% chance of no encounter, 1 shake is a 59% chance of Group A, 2 shakes is a 75% chance of Group B and 3 shakes is a 93% chance of it being Munchlax, lucky you. After the battle, if you slather Honey on the tree again AND it was the most recent tree slathered, then there's a 90% chance of the same Group being used again. And that's everything about Honey trees, what a waste of loving time.
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May 24, 2019 21:26
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Mini Notes 02: Rotom's Form "Our encounter was a sudden one. It was when I found my toy robot, one that I had earlier misplaced. At that instant, a Pokémon startlingly emerged from the lawn mower's motor! Clutching my robot, I stared, transfixed by the peculiar Pokémon. The Pokémon hovered in the air, held aloft by a power unseen. As if curious and unafraid of my presence, it floated toward me. Crackling sounds accompanied it, as if from static electricity in the air. Remarkably, it seemed the Pokémon was the source of this power! In alarm, I flinched, certain that my face would be subjected to a shock. Much to my surprise, the Pokémon seemed to favor me with a smile. Finally, I came to realize that the Pokémon only wished to be friends. I have decided to name this most wondrous Pokémon 'Rotom.' Simple though it may be, Rotom emerged to me from the motor of a lawn mower. Motor and Rotom... Surely the link is obvious? Rotom is a Pokémon that is simply sensational. The fact that it can turn invisible is simply the beginning. What makes Rotom unique is its ability to enter and operate machinery! Rotom and I became fast friends. We were perpetual companions. The electricity from its body forbade contact, however. We could not touch, let alone hug or hold hands, but we cared not. For we were bonded on a much deeper, incorporeal level. A feeling of mischief got the better of me one day. Seeing Rotom hovering, I decided to startle it--normally I would not. Perhaps frightened, Rotom discharged power beyond its usual range. I fell, stunned, into the arms of unconsciousness... When I came to, to my horror I realized that Rotom had disappeared. I searched high and low for my friend in dismay and desperation. 'Don't chastise yourself. The fault is mine. No harm done. Let us play as we always have.' Though my words poured out, my friend could not be found to hear them... My search for Rotom carried me far from home. It was in the town's rubbish heap that I again found my old toy robot. Curiously, our eyes met, then the robot waved a hand as if in greeting. I knew then that I had found my lost friend. I ran to and hugged Rotom tight, talking on and on. The robot's eyes lit up happily as I held it. I'm certain that, within it, Rotom was emitting lots electricity. Somehow, I felt I could understand Rotom's thoughts better than before. Also, I realized that we would remain friends throughout our lives..."  So while all Rotom forms were Ghost/Electric in Gen 4, starting from Gen 5, each of the forms are a different type, therefore getting STAB on their exclusive move, as well as being much more interesting to use, though their moveset didn't change much. Let's start with the best one, the nice defensive Water type only weak to Grass and is able to abuse Gen 5's metagame with endless rain and ignoring all these drat Ground moves. Hydro Pump is an incredibly dangerous move, especially when rain boosted. It's also great against other rain types to drop Thunder on them and firing off Discharge for paralysis. All of the forms appreciate the Ground immunity, but this machine was able to make the most use of where it ended up, mainly because its move was the best and rain being so good. Pretty good considering it didn't even learn Scald! Nice and compact, ignoring a 4x Ground weakness is great, but they usually carry Rock moves, so it's not too amazing. Overheat is a fantastic move, but it can't really be spammed like others. In the searing sun, it absolutely demolishes and Electric always pairs nicely to take down those Water types that try to take advantage. But with all the rain everywhere, it became a bit too easy to dampen and didn't learn any other Fire moves to help with it, always a shame.  Definitely the happiest form, it doesn't really benefit from Ground immunity, since it would be neutral otherwise, but it's always appreciated. Unfortunately the Grass type is usually a problem, but with all the Hurricanes flying around, not being weak to them helps a lot. Leaf Storm has the same problems as Overheat, but isn't boosted by any weather, so it's harder to recommend. Still, it can muscle past Ground moves and still really sting against rain teams. But without any other Grass moves, it's not too impressive otherwise.  Ooh, what's in the fridge? Disappointment? Okay... Frost may be the biggest, but it ain't the best, in hail, Blizzard is very deadly, but it's very unreliable outside of it and an Ice type is never a positive, balancing out its Ground immunity and neutrality to Steel. Still, it can deal with the Water types that try to stop it and it's an amazing neutral attacker with those STABs, but in the age of Fighting supremacy, its low Speed screws it over, even though it's also the rein of Dragons.  And then we come to the worst form. Firstly, its ability is completely useless, but maybe if it held an Air Balloon it can underflow and wrap around to being good again. No? Well if it was introduced in Gen 5, it probably would've gotten Hurricane, but instead we've got Air Slash. It's a perfectly fine move, but it's pathetic compared to all the others, and isn't too useful. While having the same type as Zapdos and Thunderus might sound good, it doesn't really help and has to rely on its Electric moves to push it through. Being limited to one move on the other STAB doesn't work too well if it's terrible, it turns out!
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May 24, 2019 21:27
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Crosspeice posted:
Wait, so it's not like some mix-up is done between the trainer and secret IDs? So if you like you could just split the visible trainer ID into two bytes, go modulo 21 on each, find the internal ID of each tree and find 2 of the Munchlax trees this way without guessing? That's easier than I thought.
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May 24, 2019 22:06
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Ok so let's start with something everyone can agree on: Honey trees are loving garbage. Also can you imagine trying to get Vespiquen without knowing that gender is rerolled on reset? God gen 4 is just full of Feebas-tier game mechanics (Spiritomb, Munchlax and the return of Feebas come to mind). Lol that Platinum lets you get a Dusk Stone earlier but doesn't let you catch either Pokémon that would use it. And now something controversial: The Rotom forms were cooler when they stayed Electric/Ghost  Carbon dioxide posted:Wait, so it's not like some mix-up is done between the trainer and secret IDs? Still a 1% chance with 6 hours between attempts though
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May 24, 2019 22:15
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 16:37 |
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Mower Rotom is still the best Rotom form. He's just so psyched to cut the lawn.
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May 24, 2019 22:27
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