Challenge Pokemon Black 2 Dexit Run

[TailGlowVM]

Inspired by SadisticMystic's "minimal Pokemon recorded in the Pokedex" challenge runs for Pokemon Ultra Sun and X, I'm attempting a version for Pokemon Black 2. (By the way, if you're reading this, Sadistic, do you ever plan to complete the end of that Pokemon X run?) I'm playing in Normal Mode, because a) I wanted to do this run partly to see what the minimum was, rather than purely about the challenge, b) the extra levels gained and Pokemon faced may be partially offset by being able to use more Pokemon myself, and c) I was worried that there simply may not be enough EXP to beat the higher-levelled Pokemon with my minimum EXP rule. (If this run goes well though, by all means I encourage anyone else to try it on Challenge Mode.) I'm using a very slightly modified (to match the changes in this game) of Sadistic's Pokemon X rules:

• The Dexit Rule: At every point in the game, the Pokedex "Seen" count must be kept as low as possible, until it becomes mandatory to see certain species as a prerequisite for further progress in the storyline. If holding true to this rule requires traveling with a party of only one Pokemon so that double battle trainers don't challenge me at all, or wiping out against trainers that are acceptable to lose to so they never get to send out their backline Pokemon, so be it.
• All avoidable trainers must be skipped, and wild Pokemon can't be defeated for experience. Wilds can still be caught, as long as they are mandatory encounters and/or a species that I've already been forced to see earlier in the game (and, of course, assuming that my Poke Ball supplies hold out to have some left). If I run into a wild encounter by chance that I haven't seen yet, too bad, that violates rule #1 so reset back to the last save point.
• No buying anything except the various types of Repels (for convenience) and any non-replenishable purchases that can only be made once (for example: TMs). Even purchases made in other currencies such as Battle Points, Shards, or Poke Miles are subject to this restriction.
• No items obtained by means such as the Pickup ability or Thief against wild Pokemon may ever be used.
• No Pass Powers may be used except Encounter, and depending on how big the level gap gets along the way, I might eventually give Exp. Points the green light as well.
• The "Set" option will remain active for all battles, like the opponents and PVP battles always adhere to.
• No multiplayer or online connectivity at any point, to include trades or importing things.

Badge Checkpoint 1
So, once I begin, Mom asks me if I want a Pokemon and a Pokedex. I suppose I need at least one Pokemon to protect myself, and I have to pretend to want the Pokedex if I want to get a Pokemon and go around the region. I have to join Hugh (and the usual regular rival battles, sigh) to go and find Bianca. She gives me the Pokedex (no! please!) and lets me pick my starter. It doesn't affect the minimum number as to who I choose, so I'll go with Tepig. Bianca then gives Hugh the other Pokedex. I then have to fight Hugh's Oshawott, which I just Tackle to death as usual. It is at least a nice bit of EXP, levelling Tepig to Level 6. After visting the Pokemon Center, of which half the functions I have to sit through being explained even though I cannot use under the journal's superiors' restrictions, I get given some Poke Balls. Then I go outside and get the Town Map and Running Shoes - so at least Mom knows I do really want to avoid the grass when I can.

I head out onto Route 19 and have to watch the usual capture tutorial - fortunately, this does not record Lillipup or Purrloin, as I'm not directly involved. Now it's time to enter the grass - I go straight through the first patch without any encounters, then carefully through the next one. I briefly head northward and pick up the Potion, then enter Flocessy Town. There's nothing here other than picking up a Potion, so I won't stay in this area long.

Through the far end of the town, Alder asks me why I have two Town Maps (does he think I'm stealing?), then tells me to go down Route 20. I'm forced into my first wild trainer battle, with Youngster Terrell and his Patrat, followed by Lass Isabel with Purrloin. I may as well catch the Patrat I see in the grass, and I skip the final trainer. I then enter Flocessy Ranch and battle Cheren, who still has just Oshawott - seems it either doesn't have a Water move to hit Tepig even though I got STAB Ember, or just doesn't use it. Hugh then randomly panics upon hearing about the missing Herdier. I have to go through the grass to avoid the Janitor, then through some more down the steps and over the ledge - luckily, I can skip every Trainer in the ranch.

I had to reset several times to get through the grass here without any wild encounters - so by the time I finally reach the Herdier, I have a lot of frustration too. I speak to the Plasma Grunt, then... how come everyone else gets to skip straight back and I have to walk? At least there is only one patch of grass to go through on the path back.

Back in Flocessy Town, I meet Alder again, and, since I picked Tepig, I have to fight his two students that use Pansage and Panpour - it seems that just like Oshawott, Panpour has no STAB, meaning that Tepig can overpower it - this seems even stranger here, given the point of the battle is surely to make you catch and use another Pokemon, rather than just your starter, which is meant to lose? After this, I get interrupted by Mr Medal, who gives me the Medal Case and Medals, and I begin to return to Aspertia City. On the way back, Alder tells me about the gym reopening.

Aspertia City's Gym has opened up, and there's no puzzle here - instead, I simply have to defeat the two trainers on the ground if I want to challenge Cheren. (For the curious, does anyone remember the person suggesting you catch a Riolu? Well, that won't help you as much as he implies - Riolu's earliest proper STAB move, Force Palm, has been moved to a level above which a non-grinding player should have at this point, and Tepig won't have evolved either. I mentioned this on another thread a while back, but there's no Rock-, Ghost-, or Steel- type Pokemon here for a defensive type advantage, and nothing else learns a Fighting-type move, making this one of the very few gyms in which the player does not have a natural way to get a type advantage.)

Both the two trainers have Patrat and Lillipup, and Tepig carries on its previous "press Tackle and Ember while the opponent's mons slowly die" strategy. Cheren is not a really notable fight either, Tepig can simply 3HKO both his Pokemon, while he wastes turns using Work Up. Ember conveniently burns Lillipup, which is one advantage Tepig has as the starter here.

After this, I get the Basic Badge and Work Up TM, leave the gym and go outside, where Cheren and Bianca register on the Xtransceiver, along with Professor Juniper, who is pleased that I accepted the Pokedex and wants me to catch more Pokemon.

Current Progress:
Seen: 7 (Caught: 2)
Current Team:
Tepig L14 (Ember / Tackle / Tail Whip / Defense Curl)
Patrat L3 (Tackle / Leer) (Filler, will be boxing soon)

Badge Checkpoint 2
Before going back onto Route 19, I can finally buy some Repels - that should make things a bit faster. I go through Flocessy Town onto Route 20, where I meet Bianca and the Pokedex is upgraded (no!), get reminded about rustling grass, and am told to meet as many Pokemon as I can (sigh.) Before I can enter the next part of the route, I have to battle Hiker Jerome and his Riolu. It seems that Cheren managed to forget something as well, as he shows me the dark grass. Besides the Hiker, the single trainers here all have avoidable sightlines, and as always, the Twins at the top who have a Double Battle can be avoided by having only one Pokemon. In the gatehouse, I get some much-needed Great Balls from the lady at the gate, before entering Virbank City.

I get a call from Mom on the Xtransceiver, then Roxie shouts to her father about how he should stay as a captain, instead of becoming an actor. I go and collect the Great Balls from the person near the gym - not to catch a Magnemite, as I haven't seen it yet, but instead to get a Purrloin from the dark grass on Route 20, and may as well get a higher-levelled Patrat that I run into while searching. Both are somewhat underlevelled for where I am (Level 11/10 respectively to Tepig's 14), but much better than nothing. (Of course, I can only avoid the Twins by having one Pokemon, so from this grass I have to go back to Flocessy Town, then deposit the newly caught Pokemon, then go back along the route, then get Patrat and Purrloin back again in Virbank City.)

Before going into the Virbank Gym, I can quickly go out into the Virbank Complex, where the most notable things are the decent-for-now Thief TM, and the daily trade of a Poke Ball for a Great Ball. That's it for here though, so I have to go to the gym and fight the Roughneck, who has Grimer and Koffing, as well as the Guitarist with Venipede and another Koffing. Now it's time to face Roxie. I lead with Patrat to Leer Koffing twice, then once Patrat is fainted, Purrloin can chip it down a little before fainting. This way, Tepig can KO with Tackle (to avoid triggering Super Potion range) into Flame Charge, then level up, outspeed and 2HKO Whirlipede with just barely enough health to take a Venoshock... assuming Poison Point doesn't trigger. The Toxic Badge is mine! I'm now asked to go to Pokestar Studios, which ends the first section of this challenge run.

Current Progress:
Seen: 12 (Caught: 3)
Current Team:
Tepig L17 (Flame Charge / Tackle / Tail Whip / Defense Curl)
Patrat L11 (Frustration / Leer / Bite / Bide)
Purrloin L11 (Scratch / Growl / Thief / Sand-Attack)

 

[SadisticMystic]

There's another unfinished run you might be interested in (not mine this time), called Final Mix, which is essentially this except that one encounter per route is exempt from the rules (to include being able to evolve stuff--what a concept!)

 

[R_N]

I had thought that the Hiker had the dunsparce, but looking it up turns out it was the Nursery aide who is the secret route boss and you can skip right past her. Go Figure


I think the Monkey battles are more meant to just passively teach the triangle rather than force you to deal with it ala the Striaton Triplets. Which is why they're both level 9: 1 level before they get their elemental move.
Challenge mode, obviously, takes them to level 10 so now you have to deal with them.

 

[TailGlowVM]

Badge Checkpoint 3
So, after being basically imprisoned by Pokestar Studios to make a film (are they really that desperate for money? They need to grab some random Trainer off the street and force them to make a film?) which fortunately does not record the Vullaby Brycen uses, I go down to the docks only to run into some Team Plasma Grunts, who force me into a battle - if they are serious about their aims, wouldn't they have more than a single Patrat? A single Patrat that uses Bide, meaning my own lower-levelled Patrat can simply Leer it for free while it does nothing? I'm then told to go to Route 20 again, which means depositing Patrat and Purrloin again to dodge the Twins, then going out onto the route to find the Grunt. It's an easy battle facing only one Purrloin, but between going down and back again, I must have had to try avoiding the trainer at the bottom of the steps at the Virbank end of the route at least thirty times - she has such an annoying change of sightline to remember! After eventually getting through the sequence correctly, I can finally take the ferry to Castelia City. (I'd like to say rather a lot more to that trainer, but that would probably go beyond what I'm permitted to say here, so you'll just have to decide for yourself...)

Now I'm in Castelia City, there's a bunch of useful things I can get. I pick up a Bicycle and a Heart Scale by finding all the Harlequins, a Quick Claw (I'd prefer not to rely on RNG where possible, but the option is there if I need to now), TMs for Rest, Attract and Flash, the Exp. Share, the Dowsing Machine, an Amulet Coin, a Charcoal, and some less important things. I go to the gym, where Burgh is missing. Iris says that he's going to be somewhere suspicious, and tells me to go to the Pokemon Center with her. She wants me to go down Thumb Pier and... into the sewers? Apparently, Team Plasma is there too.

Let's get this over and done with - I spray a Repel to prevent any wild Rattata and Zubat appearing, then walk through the corridor to the Grunts. Their Sandile and Scraggy face my Tepig and Hugh's Dewott. I need to keep Dewott alive to avoid Pidove coming out and being recorded. Dewott predictably goes for the supereffective STAB KO on Sandile with Razor Shell, allowing Tepig to get a Flame Charge on Scraggy. This puts Scraggy into KO range of Razor Shell next turn. The Grunts run away and flee upon being defeated, and Burgh appears out of the shadows - how long has he been here? Wouldn't he be smelling a bit by now? Anyway, I'm now allowed to go to the Gym when I want. I get the Heart Scale near the Relic Passage. While I could go around and pick up the rest of the items from the sewers, none look exceeding useful immediately, and I'd rather wait until I've done a couple more battles, so that I can level up Tepig and avoid the Level 17 encounters bypassing Repel.

I go out onto Route 4, where the Pokemon Breeder can be avoided by using the leftmost tile, allowing me to catch a Sandile. It has Intimidate, which could end up very useful in future battles. I also pick up the Mystic Water. There's nothing else to get for now because of a... horde of Crustle blocking the Route?, so it's time to face the Gym.

This gym has a maze of cocoons, and three of the underlings here are mandatory - they have Sewaddle, Swadloon, Combee and Dwebble between them. At the top, I have to fight Burgh. I lead with Tepig and use Flame Charge to bring the Sewaddle into Hyper Potion range, then use two Flame Charges to KO it while Burgh uses a Hyper Potion. Dwebble comes in next, and this is where Intimidate is key: Sandile can come in on Rock Polish (or resisted Smack Down, which is the attack it will use on Tepig should it choose to attack) then hopefully force the AI to use Struggle Bug while I get a free switch to Patrat. Struggle Bug 3HKOes while Patrat Leers Dwebble, then Sandile comes in for a second Intimidate, and uses Bite on Dwebble for a bit of chip before being KOed to allow Tepig back in safely. -2 Smack Down is weak enough that Tepig can then chip it down slowly with Flame Charge before proceeding to outspeed and OHKO Leavanny.

Current Progress:
Seen: 20 (Caught: 4)
Current Team:
Tepig L20 (Flame Charge / Tackle / Smog / Rollout)
Patrat L13 (Frustration / Leer / Bite / Cut)
Purrloin L15 (Scratch / Growl / Thief / Sand-Attack)
Sandile L15 (Bite / Sand Tomb / Torment / Sand-Attack)

Note that I expect Tepig will not carry on doing all the damage - I got, and in the Gym Battles have been using, the Exp. Share, so the level gap will probably start closing up soon.

Badge Checkpoint 4
On Route 4, it's time to fight Colress. It's no problem - I lead with Sandile who destroys Magnemite, and Tepig can easily switch into and deal with Klink. Colress then moves the Crustle to unblock the route (though surely someone would have found some way to move them by now?). As I'm playing Black, the road has been completed and developed, making it a straight, easy walk up to Join Avenue, besides entering a few of the houses to get some items. At the far end of the street, I can choose between entering Join Avenue and going directly to Castelia City, or taking a detour to explore the rest of the route and the Desert Resort. Hopefully it should be obvious which one I took. >< There's the highly useful TM Dig as well as some Stardust to sell in the desert part of this route, and I can enter the Desert Resort. There's a few good items to get here. The most important are the Soft Sand and Ground Gem for Sandile, from a guy who hasn't been talked to except by myself for two whole years... There's a few items to sell, and inside the Relic Castle I get the Rock Tomb TM. I could get the Heart Scale as well, but it's an annoying detour past an awkward trainer, so I decided not to bother.

Now it's time to enter Join Avenue. I go through the usual chat to explain the place. I should have declared this rule earlier, but I'm not going to use this place, given it would potentially allow me to get stuff like Rare Candies and extra Exp. Instead, it's time to go into Nimbasa City. Fortunately, I'm not required to go into the Battle Subway, which would force me to battle and record more Pokemon. After doing my usual trip to pick up the various items, I can enter the Old Gym. There's two trainers who have to be fought here: Rolan with Blitzle, and Colette with Flaaffy. Both are easily dealt with by my lower-levelled Sandile, and it can get a good amount of experience as well. I make my way up through the roller coaster cars, and then at the top... just a Parlyz Heal? Looks like I'll have to go through two gyms if I want to progress.

Inside the (proper) Gym, I have to defeat the Trainers to get some more light and walk past. There's no way to avoid their line of sight, even though I could easily get around a gap like that on a route, so I'm forced to record Elekid (who apparently has no way to damage Sandile, as Nikola switched it out). The Electric-type trainers so far have been easy for Sandile, but Elesa needs more planning. My would-be strategy of shuffling Intimidate between Sandile blocking the Electric STAB while something else absorbs the weakened, non-STAB coverage fails, because Elesa leads with Emolga, which is immune to Sandile's Dig and isn't even 3HKOed by Rock Tomb. While Sandile beats it, it ends up at too low health to deal with Zebstrika and Flaaffy in the back. (This wouldn't be a problem if Elesa led with Flaaffy, since I can get enough healing back from Leftovers while Sandile uses Dig to KO it, and the AI sends out Zebstrika next thanks to its decision being on base power of moves, meaning I can beat them both and then leave Tepig, Patrat and Purrloin to muscle through Emolga.) I can't even use Sandile purely for pivoting and leave my other Pokemon to KO everything, because everything here has Volt Switch, which hits the entire team bar Sandile too hard while simultaneously putting me back at square one with Intimidate drops. I can't even try to bait out Flame Charge from Zebstrika to try to stall it between Sandile and Tepig, because the AI doesn't always like using Flame Charge on Sandile due to the Speed boost secondary effect and Sandile being slower. Further complicating this is that Zebstrika and Emolga both have Pursuit, which they occasionally randomly use on Sandile despite the resist, and when switching it hits Tepig and Patrat hard.

After lots of thinking and testing, I eventually decided the best solution was to catch a Dwebble from the Desert Resort. It's found at a 10% encounter rate, and 40% of the other encounters are Pokemon I can afford to see. I lead with Sandile, and simply PP stall Volt Switch by switch-stalling using Sandile's Ground immunity and Dwebble's high bulk and Normal-resistance. When neutered, Leftovers outheal Emolga's Quick Attack, which is a helpful buffer against crits, though I somehow manage to get no crits during the entire stalling process but one on the last Quick Attack when switching in and another on one of Emolga's Pursuits. Did they know my plan or something? Once Emolga is out of Volt Switches, Dwebble KOes it with Smack Down, and Flaaffy comes in. I get it down to -2 Attack before KOing it to cushion Take Down, and with the Soft Sand equipped Sandile can OHKO it with Dig. Finally, Zebstrika can be dealt with similarly to Flaaffy, although I need to heal Sandile twice, since it can't OHKO Zebstrika and Flame Charge and Tackle are pretty strong. I then get the Bolt Badge, and that concludes this section.

Current Progress:
Seen: 27 (Caught: 5)
Current Team:
Tepig L22 (Flame Charge / Tackle / Smog / Rollout)
Sandile L23 (Bite / Dig / Torment / Rock Tomb)
Dwebble L19 (Smack Down / Faint Attack / Rock Polish / Sand-Attack)
Patrat L18 (Frustration / Hypnosis / Crunch / Cut)
Purrloin L18 (Scratch / Growl / Thief / Sand-Attack)

 

[NaturalTropius]

Huh, looks like you've got the entire Sewaddle line...? You could certainly go and grab one and fully evolve it- although you might risk accidentally registering Sunkern or Pidove... If you can grab one though, that would be a helluva boon.

 

[TailGlowVM]

Huh, looks like you've got the entire Sewaddle line...? You could certainly go and grab one and fully evolve it- although you might risk accidentally registering Sunkern or Pidove... If you can grab one though, that would be a helluva boon.

I considered going back to get a Sewaddle after Burgh, but it's too far back to be worth it - it would have been too underlevelled to contribute against Elesa. Also, neither Sewaddle nor Swadloon has the movepool to do anything to Emolga, which was the big issue I had with Elesa, as you can see above, and they get smoked by Zebstrika's Flame Charge. I might get one for Clay, though - thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Modulo]

I've thought about doing a Dexit run for sone time and may have a rules question:

Assume you have two starter choices. One of them is able to achieve a lower dex count by the end, but must defeat exactly 1 wild encounter (doesn't increase the dex total at that point) to not get stuck. The other one might get past that threshold without the encounter, but is guaranteed a higher dex count at the end of the game.
Would it be acceptable to run the first starter under the premise to defeat exactly one specific random encounter?

 

[TailGlowVM]

If you're wondering, unfortunately I had to abandon the run due to some problems. I did manage to get a bit further while I was still playing though, so for the record, here's the rest of my notes:

Badge Checkpoint 5
After considering the options, I decided to catch a Swadloon in Lostlorn Forest. Getting around all the trainers here took quite a while, so I don't think I'll be coming back soon.

I could access Route 5 without any obstructions before, but the path is now blocked by Hugh and two Team Plasma Grunts who have to be fought before I can advance and they use Trubbish and Watchog. Trubbish is Sandile food, but Watchog was surprisingly hard with Confuse Ray, Hypnosis and Super Fang - I would probably have lost to it if I didn't outnumber it by so much.

I go onto Route 5, obtain the Fly HM from Bianca, and am directed to the Hidden Grotto. I'm asked if I want to go in, but even if I decline, I have to go in anyway, so... what's the point? Inside, there's a cute little Minccino, with its hidden ability, Skill Link... don't take it! This is a trap, like the Pikachu picture SadisticMystic was invited to take in his Ultra Sun challenge, as it means I would be forced to add Minccino to the Pokedex. I have to leave it behind, and go back onto the route to go to the far end and battle Charles with his Sigilyph, Tirtouga, and Archen. The crowd clears and I can move on to Driftveil City, going over the long and rather useless Driftveil Drawbridge (also known as the Charizard Bridge... don't you think you might have done enough fanservice about Charizard now, Game Freak?)

In Driftveil City, I can obtain another Ultra Ball, and an Air Balloon, which could potentially be useful for the upcoming Gym, but I'm denied the ever-useful Expert Belt until I have something that's at least Level 30. Before I can battle Clay, I have to go to the house at the far end of the city and fight Rood. I wondered if this might be one of those battles I could lose, but apparently not. For an all-physical team like this one, an Intimidate-using lead with a setup move is thoroughly annoying - it's almost like the AI wants to beat me at my own game. I lead with Patrat, which wastes Herdier's Intimidate, since it gets OHKOed by Take Down, preventing it from using Work Up. Tepig then chips down Herdier using Flame Charge, which in conjunction with Take Down recoil leaves it in range of Swadloon. Swoobat comes out, and I sacrifice Purrloin to get Sandile in for free, who lives an Air Cutter, which causes the AI to waste a turn using Imprison so I can score the 2HKO with Bite.

Hugh then turns up, demanding his sister's Purrloin back, and I'm asked to adopt N's Zorua. Obviously, I have to decline to preserve the rules of the challenge, and finally go to the gym. I'm forced to fight two underlings here in order to reach Clay, which requires recording Baltoy and Drilbur. Everyone else here is optional, which means my team at Levels 22-25 facing his team at Level 31 and 33.

This is another battle where the AI behaves unusually, complicating conventional strategies. The obvious way to deal with the lead Krokorok would be to get a Sigilyph (or give Tepig the Air Balloon), and switch-stall Crunch and Bulldoze between it and Sandile, bringing it down to -6 Attack to let Dwebble or Swadloon KO it without taking too much damage. This is complicated by the mechanic I explained in the Elesa battle - the AI won't use Bulldoze unless I am faster or there's a chance of a KO due to the Speed-dropping secondary effect, instead preferring resisted Crunch - but sometimes it uses Sand Tomb instead, presumably because Crunch seems iffy due to the resist and neither does much damage to Sandile. I can take it out by Intimidating it a bit and then using Dwebble to KO it, but Dwebble doesn't even deal with it that well with Crunch defense drops and Torment preventing Dwebble from using its only good move against Krokorok every other turn.

To deal with this battle, I had to grind Swadloon's happiness to evolve it into Leavanny - luckily, I had a Rare Candy, and after a lot of walking around and a couple of massages, I was properly ready to take on the Gym. I lead with Leavanny, and hope for Razor Leaf critting with its increased crit rate to OHKO through Intimidate. I don't get it, but this is manageable as the same quirk with Speed-reducing moves causes Krokorok to open with 4x resisted Bulldoze. Leavanny is slower after a Bulldoze, but it still 2HKOes through Intimidate, and while previous tries had it Crunch Leavanny, this time it used Torment, meaning I get the KO relatively unscathed. This is important as being healthy baits Excadrill into using Rock Slide, which means Sandile can come in and get off an Intimidate. I sacrifice Patrat and Lillipup for two more Intimidates, and at -3 it can't 2HKO with most combinations of moves while I can 2HKO with Soft Sand-boosted Dig. The Sitrus Berry makes it a 3HKO, but the second Dig leaves it in Hyper Potion range, so Dwebble can use a Fresh Water safely and get the 2HKO. Finally, Sandslash comes out, and I switch to Dwebble to get a free turn to heal Sandile while it doesn't do much damage. I sacrifice Dwebble to get Sandile in for free and do a bit of chip with Bug Bite, and Sandile gets off another Intimidate and a Torment. Dig chips it a bit and finally I bring Leavanny back in. This is where Torment is important: it prevents Fury Cutter stacking, meaning that every other turn it uses Crush Claw instead, which I can take well enough, and I Protect on its Fury Cutters. Miracle Seed-boosted Razor Leaf barely does enough to Sandslash to finish it off, and that is the game! (Though it wasn't quite as close as I might have implied - I gave Tepig the Air Balloon, so it could have finished off a weakened Excadrill or Sandslash if necessary.)

Current Progress:
Seen: 39 (Caught: 7)
Current Team:
Leavanny L27 (Razor Leaf / Bug Bite / Return / Protect)
Sandile L26 (Dig / Bite / Torment / Rock Tomb)
Tepig L22 (Flame Charge / Strength / Smog / Rollout)
Dwebble L23 (Bug Bite / Smack Down / Faint Attack / Struggle Bug)
Purrloin L18 (Scratch / Growl / Thief / Sand-Attack)
Patrat L18 (Return / Hypnosis / Crunch / Cut)

Badge Checkpoint 6
To advance the story, I need to participate in the Pokemon World Tournament. Before I enter, there's a couple of things to do - I can get the useful Rocky Helmet, and replace Tepig's rather useless Smog with Fire Pledge. Just for once, the battles against Hugh, Cheren and Colress aren't that hard, since Sandile and Leavanny are higher-levelled. They were obvious picks, and the last slot was between Tepig and Dwebble. I chose Tepig for the last slot, and get through relatively easy with pure brute force. The only threats were Cheren's Work Up + Sing Cinccino, whose sleep fortunately didn't last long enough to let it set up too much, and Colress's lead Magneton, which rolled Sturdy and could 2HKO everything with Mirror Shot. I lead with Sandile and knock it down to 1 HP with Dig, and sack Tepig to let Leavanny revenge it. Leavanny then easily OHKOes Elygem, and Razor Leaf 3HKOes Klink through the resist while it can't do a lot back. Being a battle facility, the Pokemon my opponents use aren't recorded in the Pokedex, which is great. I could go on and try some more tournaments to get extra BP for the TMs, but I'm not convinced my team can handle opponents that I can't completely plan for in advance and aren't lower-leveled, so I leave.

The only other option is to join Hugh and Cheren aboard the Plasma Frigate, where I have to fight two Grunts that use Koffing and Trubbish (which I already saw), then a Double Battle with Cheren, where his Stoutland faces off against Golbat, Liepard, Grimer and Krokorok. Preserving Stoutland to make sure Cheren's backups don't come out isn't hard - Sandile's lower level seems to induce the AI a little into attacking it instead, and Stoutland's power and bulk mean it can muscle through in conjunction with Sandile.

Next I have to join Cheren, who leads with Dewott, against some more Grunts with Koffing, Watchog, Grimer and Raticate. Sandile's Intimidate does it again, being enough to cushion Koffing's Self-Destruct for Dewott - sadly, not enough for itself. Dewott's Revenge hits the backups hard while Watchog fortunately uses Confuse Ray on Dwebble over Dewott and then spams Super Fang on the low-health Dewott and Dwebble. When the Grunts are defeated, Zinzolin comes out and... why would you give away your plan to people like us? ><

While I can now move on to Route 6 and go through Chargestone Cave, firstly I want to go back to Castelia City, and as I now have seen more than 40 Pokemon (boooo!) I can get the Eviolite. I then enter Route 6, and am interrupted by Cheren, who tells me about some sudden cold weather then gives me the Surf HM. Outside, I have to fight a Scientist with a Deerling, and I might as well adopt the one inside the lab. I continue further along the path, then Cobalion jumps out onto the bridge (and fortunately does not get recorded.) Rood tells me it would be great if Cobalion joined me on my journey - perhaps not.

I move into Chargestone Cave and meet Bianca who tells you about the moving stones. It's time to add another Pokemon to my team, since everything capable of battling is extremely weak to Skyla's Swanna. I wish Magnemite could be in here like it is in Blaze Black / Volt White, but sadly not. I'll have to settle for another Electric-type, and the options I've seen so far are... what? None of them?