Entertainment Plans: March 2015

In case anyone was wondering, I haven't made any Pokémon progress at all lately.  What little time I've spent on the handheld has been on Pokémon shuffle, largely because of its whole heart recharge system.  It's a fine little match-3 game, but I'm not writing to talk about that today.
I realized that, even for my personal entertainment, I won't get anything done unless I specifically set out to to it.  These aren't exactly great aspirations, but I figured that I'd post them here, for what it's worth.  For one thing, I'm hoping to make March be the month that I finally re-play Myst.  For another, I'm hoping to watch some anime.  I haven't watched anime in ages.  I've got one on loan, and I'm hoping to watch any one of a short list of other anime.  (Maybe I'll post details once I decide what to watch.)  Furthermore, in addition to those, I saw the first few episodes of Gankutsuou AGES ago, and saw them again slightly fewer ages ago, but I figure that I can set aside some time and actually watch the whole thing.  (For the curious, Gankutsuou is currently available, both subbed and dubbed, on Funimation's YouTube channel.) 
Oh, and I suppose that I'll have to make some more progress on Pokémon, too.  ;)

Video Game Plans as of November 2014

Briefly, here's an update on video game stuff. 

Though I got pokémon ORAS last week, I've only barely touched AS.  I'm torn on time, though, since I still haven't finished my Gen I team in pokémon X, which I still intend to do, even if that's the last thing that I do in X.  (I'm not expecting to do any special teams in AS, though.) 
I'm planning to do a Y-Locke's Log this Sunday, since I never got to it before. 
I'm also hoping to play some more FTL, which I haven't touched in a while, but that's probably going to get pushed back to December. 
Also in December,  I'm hoping to play through LEGO Indiana Jones, since it shouldn't take that long, and it should be simple to finish. 
Anyway, it's looking like I've got to make a big video game push in the next few weeks.  I'll let you know how it went, next month.  ;)

Y-Locke's Log: Day 8

Today had quite an interesting start to it indeed.  I received a Diancie, but before I could even begin to get to know it, an anonymous butler and maid arrived, speaking of its remarkable beauty.  But then, they asked me to give it to them!  Fortunately, their master arrived to straighten the whole thing out.  He also mentioned that rumor had it that Diancie is something of a good luck charm. 
However, I had already committed to using Rose Red as my Fairy-type, so I put Diancie away, for now, and set back out on the road to train her up. 
Rose Red isn't very tough yet, so I'm doing many bouts against wile pokémon; Theodore is her backup, for now.  However, in one particularly tough fight against a Ledyba, I ended up switching Sly in, and, afterwards, he evolved into a Braixen! 
The amount of training that I'm having to do to prepare Rose Red for battle reminds me of just how fragile some pokémon can be; she's fairly easily weakened, and I worry for the worst.  Mousea is similarly weak, though I do at least get enough time to retrieve him for battle; he's not as frail, but he can barely damage anything, so, unfortunately, every battle using Mousea threatens to be a losing one. 
Mousea did manage to learn Lucky Chant tonight, which should help her survive battles, since critical hits can do truly surprising amounts of damage.  Theodore also learned Rollout.  I look forward to a chance to try it out, but I've been training my pokémon all day, and I think that they could use a rest.  ^_^

Poké-Plans for November 2014

So, the drop date for Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire is closer than one might think.  Unfortunately, I'm way, way behind on my generational team plans. 
Since I came up with all of the notes for it, I'm at least going to beat the game with my Generation I team before I go pick up ORAS on the 21st.  (Or was it the 23rd?) 
As I recall, the biggest uncertainty that I had was a 4th move for Jolteon.  I know that I wanted it to have Hidden Power (Ice) along with Rain Dance and Thunder, but I just wasn't sure about the final move for its Repetoire.  Double Team is the most tempting, but I'm doing a breeding rule, & getting all 3 non-Thunder moves might make this harder on myself than necessary.  @_@

That's all for now, but expect a post in November on how this goes. 

Y-Locke's Log: Day 7

I once again received a pokémon as a gift today.  This time, it was a Gengar holding a Gengarite.  With this, I do have the equivalent of an entire team in my PC box, which is nice. 
I headed to Route 4 and ran into a trainer with a Pichu and a Pikachu.  Mousea was able to handle the Pichu alright, but he had some trouble against the Pikachu, so I had Sly finish him off. 
I did find a Net Ball in one corner of the route.  It was there that I also encountered a Gardener named Grover.  He had only a Corphish, but experience taught me that those are fairly tough, so I sent Orion out, who used Sand-Attack before finishing off the Corphish by more conventional means.  He also told me the name of the hedgerows flanking the route:  They are apparently called the Geometric Gardens. 
After a run back to the pokémon center, I explored the other side of Route 4, and ran across another Gardener, named Fabian.  He, like so many others, had a lone Corphish as his pokémon.  Mousea's Charm was useful for slowing Corphish's attack, but Corphish is a Water-type, and I'm not sure that Mousea had enough attacks in total to knock him out, so I switched to Theodore.  I ended up using a Potion to save Theodore, but Mousea did learn Bubblebeam in the process - replacing Water Gun - so it was a pretty good battle overall.  I did retreat to the pokémon center to recover, though. 
On the northernmost part of Route 4, I ran across two white-clad trainers, who seemed pleased that I had encountered a Flabébé, and who eventually introduced themselves as Sina and Dexio.  Apparently, the Fairy type was only recently classified.  They offered to show me the way to Professor Sycamore's lab.  Along the way, Dexio gave me the TM for Return, a move that gets stronger when my friendship with the pokémon using it is strong. 
Lumiose City seems quite big, so I followed Sina straight to the lab.  While there, another scientist gave me the TM for False Swipe, which apparently always leaves a pokémon with at least 1 HP, which is super useful for catching pokémon. 
While I was talking to Professor Sycamore, Shauna and Serena arrived, and Sycamore suggested that we all battle.  I did get a moment to switch my pokémon around first, though, so I put Theodore out front to give him some experience.  Sycamore sent out a Bulbasaur first, so I ended up switching to Orion, to exploit its weakness to Flying-type attacks; two Gusts took it out.  Against his Squirtle, I kept Orion out, but was more cautious, leading with a Sand-Attack.  He finished Squirtle off, but almost didn't survive!  When the professor sent out Charmander, I sent out Mousea, and led strong with his newly-learned Bubblebeam.  It wasn't quite as good as I was hoping, so I got cautious, having Mousea use Water Sport and Charm to reduce Charmander's attack power.  More Water-type attacks eventually finished the job, though, and Professor Sycamore was defeated. 
Then, in an unexpected gesture, Professor Sycamore offered me my choice of any one of those same three pokémon species.  I was torn between Charmander and Squirtle, but I suspected that Water-types would be more common than Fire-types on my journey, despite how many I had at the moment, so I went with Charmander.  He let me name it, too, so I dubbed him "Comet", for his fiery-looking tail. 
Then, in a further act of generosity, Professor Sycamore gave me a Charizardite Y.  Apparently, it's a Mega Stone, and is connected to Mega Evolution; he'd like us to look into it, and suggested that we check out Camphrier Town.  (He also gave pokémon and mega stones to the others.) 
Comet wasn't holding anything, so I gave him the Charizardite Y to hold. 
On my way out, I encountered a fellow named Lysandre.  Apparently, he's been studying pokémon for a while now, and has hopes for a more "beautiful" world. 
On my way out, Serena mentioned that she'd like to meet me at a Cafe Soliel.  Conveniently, Trevor & Tierno mentioned that it was toward Camphrier Town; there's no way that I'd have found it easily in all of Lumiose.  I decided to retreat to the Santalune City pokémon center for the night, though. 
I also think that I'll mix up my team a little:  Rather than using Pyrrhini or Comet, where I already also have both Sly and my Torchic, I'm going to use Rose Red for a while, and see how she plays out. 

Y-Locke's Log: Day 6

This time, I was greeted with a non-Bug gift pokémon, in the form of a Pumpkaboo. 

I set out onto Route 4 again, though I immediately faced Roland, the roller skater, and his Pidgey.  Pyrrhini made swift work of it, though.  I also encountered a trainer with some Burmy, and thought it a prime opportunity to train Theodore up somewhat.  It was during this battle that I realized Theodore's true potential:  In his Simple way, he is better at moves like Defense Curl, which should help him out in long fights. 
I took out a Flabébé on the side of the road, and was inexplicably accosted by a preschooler with a Magikarp. 
I also found some Honey while randomly poking around at bushes.  Weird. 
A tough fight against a wild Budew got me to put Pyrrhini back in front.  He did fairly well against the wild pokémon in the area. 
I returned to Santalune City to recharge a bit, then set Mousea at the lead.  Unfortunately, my first opponent had a Budew, so I switched to Sly, to let him stretch his legs a bit. 
In the grasses, Mousea had quite a long fight against a wild Flabébé.  I realize that he needs a lot more training if he's going to take anything out with adequate swiftness.  I sought out more wild pokémon for him to fight, but unfortunately encountered another Budew, which would not likely go down to Bubble and Water Gun attacks. 
I returned to the pokémon center to let my pokémon recover, and decided to call it a night.  Mousea will need to be well-rested if I am to bring him up to the same level as the rest of the team. 

Y-Locke's Log: Day 5

I got another delivery today.  I was expecting it to be another Vivillon, but I was at least close:  It was a Pinsir, and a level 50 one at that!  I also got a Pinsirite, which I gave to the Pinsir, since it seemed appropriate.  Having only the Bug Badge so far, I put Pinsir in the box with my other gift-bugs, and set off to Route 4. 
I was stopped by Viola's sister again, who introduced herself as Alexa this time.  She also gave me an Exp. Share, to spread experience around my team. 
Route 4 has some hedge mazes, which I explored, finding a Repel and a Super Potion right away.  Also, in the flowers, I ran across a Flabébé, which I managed to catch on the first ball throw, after weakening it with Sly's Scratch attack.  Since this Flabébé inhabits a red flower, I decided to name her Rose Red.  As my team was full, she was sent to the PC box. 
The hedge maze also held a Great Ball and an Antidote, along with a trainer.  He was a gardener by the name of Wheaton, and he sent out a Corphish.  Since Sly is a Fire-type, I switched out for someone else.  I considered Mousea, another water type, but he's of such a low level that I feared that he wouldn't survive, so I sent out Orion, who was of a higher level and had Sand Attack available.  Orion was apparently faster, since his Sand-Attacks hit before Corphish's Bubble attacks, but they didn't seem to be helping much.  I had to use a Potion to keep Orion's HP in a comfortable area, I realized that I was running low.  To make things worse, the Corphish never missed, despite its accuracy reduction.  It did eventually miss once, just before Orion finished it off, but I was down 2 Potions, and really needed to get more.  Thankfully, Orion learned Quick-Attack, and my battle winnings were enough for 3 potions with some change, and I had plenty of money, anyway, so I bought ten Potions while I was resting my pokémon at the center back in town. 
I also bought ten more Antidotes, since they're cheap, and ten more Paralyze Heals, since I only had one and they seemed like they'd be very helpful in battle. 
I found the Perle Fountain on Route 4.  I was skating around it when a Roller Skater challenged me to a pokémon battle.  She had only a Fletchling, though, so I weakened it with Sly before sending out Mousea, to give him some experience.  After taking a Tackle, though, I could see that leaving him out would be risky, so I switched to Theodore.  Two tackles, though, also put Theodore in risky territory, so I switched back to Sly to finish the job.  Sly learned Flame Charge in place of Tail Whip, and I beat a hasty retreat to the pokémon center. 
Considering the rough time that Mousea and Theodore had of it, I decided to train them and Pyrrhini against the wild pokémon on Route 4, for their own safety.  Eventually, Mousea learned Charm, Theodore learned Defense Curl, and Pyrrhini learned Incinerate in place of Play Nice. 
I decided to call it a night after that training, though.  We'll see how the team fares against the next trainer that we encounter. 

Y-Locke's Log: Day 4

I was once again gifted with a Vivillon today.  I wonder if this will be the start of a pattern.... 
I set out to explore the route to the northwest of Santalune a bit, just to see what was out there, but a woman introducing herself as the sister of the local gym leader suggested that I head back to the gym, instead.  Before I went, though, I decided to give Route 22 another go, to train up my team. 
The wild pokémon weren't too much trouble, though a wild Litleo used Leer a lot, & I think that I saved Sly by switching to Mousea just before it pounced.  Actually, Mousea knows some Water-type moves, which I should keep in mind when facing Fire types. 
After a rest, I decided to tackle the Santalune City Gym. 
When I went in, a man helpfully informed me that everyone in the gym uses Bug-type pokémon.  Considering that I have three Fire-types and a Flying-type in my party, I wasn't expecting the gym to be much trouble at all.  The youngster with the Ledyba wasn't any problem, but Lass Charlotte managed to poison two of my pokémon before I took her down.  After defeating one last youngster with a Spewpa, I went back to the pokémon center to rest up before facing the gym leader herself. 
Since Viola is a gym leader, I figured that I should put my best foot forward, so I led with Sly.  However, she led with Surskit, so I immediately switched to Orion, who wouldn't be weak to Water.  Even so, her Surskit was strong, and two Bubble attacks had me scared for Orion.  Against her Vivillon, I sent out Torchic.  I started with Focus Energy, to make critical hits more likely while Torchic was out, but Vivillon used Infestation, which was basically like poisoning Torchic!  Thankfully, Speed Boost made sure that Torchic's second Ember attack went first - I was quite worried about what Vivillon would use after a double Infestation if it wasn't knocked out! 
After giving me my badge, Viola also gave me a TM for Infestation, and explained that it was worse than I feared:  I couldn't have switched out Torchic, even if I'd wanted to do so. 
As I left, the fellow from before suggested that I show my badge to Professor Sycamore up in Lumiose City.  However, I decided that, given the rough battles today, I should call it a night after resting in the pokémon center. 

Y-Locke's Log: Day 3

Today, there was another delivery girl in the Pokémon Center, this one in red, with a Discount Coupon for me.  The blue-clad delivery girl was there again, too, and gave me a level 12 Vivillon, giving me a full party of 6. 
I began my exploration in the traditional manner, by walking into random people's houses.  One of them taught me about evolution cancellation, though I don't foresee myself making much use of it.  Another, though, gave me a Great Ball, which will come in really handy. 
I found the Trainers' School, where someone gave me some X Attacks & X Defenses to help me on my journey. 
I went to the local gym, but someone was standing before the door.  She offered me rollerskates, strangely enough, but only in exchange for a battle, so I obliged her.  Her Zigzagoon was much higher level than Theodore, so I let my Torchic give it a go.  Two moves later, and Roller Skater Rinka was defeated, and Theodore had learned Growl.  
I spotted a path east of the gym, and gave it a look.  I was promptly challenged to battle.  I used a Potion to keep Theodore up against a Scratch-happy Psyduck, but we eventually prevailed against it.  By the time that the opponent sent out Litleo, though, I was ready to switch out to Sly.  It wasn't exactly easy, but Sly did manage to level up, learning Howl in the process. 
I retreated to the Pokémon Center, but I realized that this route would likely be good training for the gym. 
Right past that first trainer, though, I found some grass, and so I went in to see who might be joining us.  It turned out to be an Azurill, my first Fairy-type.  Since he's a mouse who's blue, like water, I named him Mousea. 
Since I already had a full party, Mousea got sent to the PC box, but I retrieved him when I returned to heal, leaving Vivillon in his place. 
Seeking to test their muster, I went to the next trainer on Route 22.  The Lass struck hard and fast with a Goldeen, and I wound up swapping out Theodore for Mousea.  Unfortunately, his only damaging attack was Water Gun, so I sent out Orion to finish her off.  I put Mousea back out when she sent out a Marill, but I wound up switching back to Orion, anyway.  All three leveled up, though, and Mousea even got a Bubble attack to replace its otherwise-useless Splash. 
I faced one more trainer, with a Riolu, and yikes!  That thing was level 9.  I swapped out Pyrrhini for Orion, and just in time, I suspect.  Riolu's Quick Attack hit hard.  Well, at least Pyrrhini leveled up and learned Lick, which I expect will be very handy, indeed. 
Having retreated to the Pokémon Center after each battle, I decided to lead with Sly for one last match.  It ended up being against a schoolgirl named Mackenzie, who had only a Bunnelby, but it put up an unexpectedly good fight.  I managed to defeat it with only Sly, though, and no items. 
After returning to the Pokémon Center, I decided to call it a night.  The gym could wait for another day. 

I've Been Playing some Minecraft

Just as an update as to what I've been doing (and why I've been so late to post this particular month), I've been playing some Minecraft, after a long period of playing little to no Minecraft.  I'm finally getting back into it after playing so much Pokémon X.  I think that I'm playing less Pokémon X than I otherwise would, because I was rushed, because I needed to get ahead of the spoilers.  So, even though I'm planning to beat the Elite Four with a few more teams, that game's kind of shelved, for now, while I work on everything else. 
I'll go into more detail on my Minecraft blog, but I have added a few mods, and removed one. 
Also, playing Minecraft has allowed me to catch up on at least one podcast, so there's that. 

Pokémon X: Victory 1

I've got good news, everyone!  I've finally defeated the Elite Four and their Champion.  Also AZ. 
I defeated them with a team of entirely Generation VI pokémon:  Meowstic, Gogoat, Hawlucha, Barbaracle, Doublade, and Greninja. 
Now, I'm setting out to defeat them again, with a team from each generation.  I'm also imposing a few other rules for my teams: 

• at least one mega evolution on each team
• at least one Eeveelution, if that generation has any (none for III & V)
• preferably, at least one pokémon that I'm using because I like it, rather than because it's "good"

However, before then, I'm going to finally catch pokémon from my Friend Safaris.  Specifically, I'm seeking females with Hidden Abilities.  I'll say this:  Meowstic's Role Play move is incredibly useful for this purpose.  

Pokémon X Mini-Update

Some Pokémon X spoilers follow. 





I thought that I should mention a few things about my Pokémon X progress: 
1.  I beat the 8th gym! 
With that out of the way, I think that I know who's on my team, though many of these decisions have made themselves.  They are: 

• Meowstic (female):  special attacker
• Gogoat:  physical attacker
• Barbaracle:  tank
• Hawlucha:  beat stick (and conveniently flying-type)
• Doublade:  Ghost/Steel type fast physical attacker that's a Ghost/Steel type
• Greninja:  high-speed mixed attacker w/ double-team

The Honedge line is pretty awesome:  One of Steel's weaknesses, Fighting, is negated by the fact that it's a Ghost type, and, as a Steel type, it's immune to Poison-type damaging attacks and to being poisoned at all. 
Barbaracle is actually a pretty good tank once it evolves out of its Binacle stage. 
I don't have any status-inflictors on the team, but I think that I'll be OK with the team as it is.  Each pokémon knows a variety of damaging attacks, so type coverage shouldn't be an issue.  3 of my pokémon are weak to Electric attacks, but Gogoat knows Bulldoze, so I don't foresee problems from Electric-type pokémon - though I've already fought an Electric-type gym leader, so I don't expect any of the Elite 4 to use them, since that's pretty normal. 

2.  Barbaracle can't learn Waterfall.  :-\
Given that the 8th badge is required to use it, I'm presuming that I'll need to use Waterfall to reach the Pokémon League.  I've got a Clauncher, so I'll probably use that just enough to get there.  Still, I'd have gladly taught the move to Barbaracle, were it allowed.  :-\

Pokémon X Progress

I haven't made much progress through Pokémon X, it seems. 
I've caught Xerneas, so there's that.  I've been preparing a team to fight the Ice-type gym leader coming up, but I arrived in Couriway town only to be ambushed by a Professor and discover that there was no gym in that town.  So, now I have to slog my way through the next route to get to the next town, which almost certainly has the gym. 
I think that part of my delay is because I'm trying to catch 'em all.  For instance, I spent significant amounts of time in the tunnel north of Couriway once I found that Rock Smash sometimes led to Shuckle.  (I didn't catch it the 1st time.  :-\)
I did catch a Noibat, though it's male, so I'd have to Ditto-breed it. 
Also, Diggersby has been getting more use again, since Dig can be used to escape caves.  Come to think of it, I should probably swap out Diggersby for Talonflame, since there seem to be a lot of Grass-types out there, given that I'm on the route again. 

Y-Locke's Log: Day 2

I traversed Route 2 today.  At the end of it, a sign warned of "Santalune Forest Ahead".  About to enter, I was challenged to a pokémon battle by a youngster named Austin.  He had only a Zigzagoon, and Sly was able to take it out in two hits.
To be sure that I was ready to take on the forest, I returned to Aquacorde Town to rest my pokémon once more.
Upon entering the forest, Shauna caught up with me, seeking to tag along in the event that something exciting should happen.
At the signpost up ahead, I was told to keep an eye out for dropped items.  Just starting out on my adventure, I figured that I could use whatever I could get, so why not, right?  In fact, from the sign I could see an item, which turned out to be a potion.
Since I was in a new area, not wanting to knock out whatever I found first, I put Orion up front.  Then, I entered the tall grass, and soon found a Pansear.  Not wanting him to be hit much, I had Orion repeatedly use Sand Attack to lower its accuracy.  Since Pansear's Leer had lowered Orion's defense, though, I switched out to Sly, then back to Orion, to continue carefully whittling it down.  A third tackle from Orion weakened it significantly, and I caught it in a Poké Ball.  I decided to name him Pyrrhini, since he's a fire monkey.  Despite being a fire type, like Sly, I think that Pyrrhini can still make a valuable addition to the team.
On top of that, I found an Antidote just past the grass.  
I promptly returned to Aquacorde to heal the whole team.  Shauna stayed behind in the forest, though.  Upon my return, I rendezvoused with Shauna.
I was able to find another Potion in the forest, but the rest of that area was an overall dead end.  Wandering through the forest to train, Shauna then mentioned that she'd heal my pokémon whenever I wanted.  I wish that she'd mentioned that before my return trip to Aquacorde, but it's all good, either way.
I saw some of the others in the forest, and Shauna found a Paralyze Heal shortly after that.  She offered it to me, and I knew better than to turn it down.
I fought a youngster named Joey on my way through the forest.  I also bumped into Serena, who gave me a Poké Ball.  Then, I fought a lass named Anna, who used only a Pikachu.
Spotting a side trail, I went to explore it, but had to fight a lass named Lise first.  I had Orion out front this time, who handled her team with ease.  It's a good thing that I took that trail, too, since I was able to find yet another Poké Ball.
There was also a potion on the way out.

About to exit the forest, everyone else caught up at about the same time.  We talked for a bit, moved outside of the forest, and talked some more.  Upon departing, I sought out some tall grass on Route 3.  Therein, I found a Bidoof.  I caught it, and named him Theodore.
Soon after, I was challenged by Oliver, a preschooler.  I defeated his team, of course, though his Caterpie was a bit tougher than it looked.  Right after I was finished with that one, though, another preschooler, Ella, challenged me with her Pichu.  
I made it to the Santalune Pokémon Center, and Tierno showed up at about the same time.  He mentioned the PC system and that, conveniently, there are Poké Marts in the backs of Pokémon Centers.  I went around and talked to the other folks there, including a delivery girl who was apparently seeking me out.  I got a Mystery Gift from her, and it turned out to be a Torchic, a little Fire-type birdy.  Lucky me, at that:  It was level 10, the same as Sly, and was holding something called "Blazikenite".  Also, the Pokédex seems unable to identify it. 

I decided to call it a night there.  I think that I may double back to Route 3 tomorrow, to see if there's anything that I may have missed, but otherwise, I've got Santalune City to explore. 

Y-Locke's Log: Day 1

Today's the big day.  What timing, eh?  Just before I start my own Pokémon adventure, we have a big move! 
As important as my Pokémon journey is, I figure that I'll keep this log to remember things. 

---

No sooner did I step out of my front door than I was greeted by my new neighbor, Serena, and her friend Shauna.  They informed my that my presence, and theirs, had been requested by Professor Sycamore.  They said that we'd meet in the next town over, and that that's where we'd get our first Pokémon.  So, I said goodbye to Rhyhorn, took one last look around Vaniville, and went off to meet my destiny.  

Several yards away, I found Aquacorde town.  I was immediately hailed by a group of four, including the two girls that I had met previously.  I was introduced to Tierno and Trevor.  I was then introduced to the Pokémon with whom I would go on my journey.  There were actually three options:  Chespin, the Grass type, Froakie, the Water type, and Fennekin, the Fire type.  I chose a Fennekin for myself.  Per the rules, I nicknamed him.  Since he's a fox, I decided to call him Sly.  Shauna picked Chespin, and Serena picked Forakie. 
Trevor delivered to me a Pokédex from Professor Sycamore.  We are to try to complete the Pokédexes for Professor Sycamore's research. 
Tierno gave me a letter from the professor to my mother, to deliver to her.  Before heading back home so soon, though, I thought that I'd have a look around.  Some fellow in the town square gave me a Potion, which I'm sure will be put to good use.  I found a shop that sells Poké Balls, so I bought ten.  I received a Premier Ball as an added bonus, which is quite handy. 
On my way home, Shauna ambushed me and challenged me to a battle.  Two hits of Ember made quick work of her Chespin.  Despite this, she was kind enough to heal Sly for me. 
Upon delivering the letter to my mother, she gave me a map and a spare change of clothes, so I suppose that it's good that my journey had this slight delay.  Ryhorn said its own goodbye to me, too, and then I was off to see the whole wide Kalos region. 

---

I had barely stepped onto Route 2 when a wild Pokémon appeared.  I had Sly use his Scratch attacks to weaken it, then caught it in a Poké Ball.  I named him Orion.  Since both of them were weakened from their battle, I went back to Aquacorde to have them rest up. 
Upon returning to Route 2, I encountered Shauna and Serena.  Serena encountered a Bunnelby, and used her Fletchling to catch it.  She also gave Shauna and me some Poké Balls, so I'm now ten Poké Balls richer, for what it's worth. 
I proceeded to spend some time training Orion and Sly against the wild Pokémon on Route 2, returning to Aquacorde whenever either was weakened.  It soon grew late, however, so I returned to Aquacorde for the night. 
Tomorrow is another day. 

Coming Soon: Y-Locke's Log

First of all, I want to clarify something about this post:  SolLock's Log isn't going away.  It's just going on hiatus for a while. 
I'm planning to play Pokémon Y as a Nuzlocke challenge.  I was hoping to beat the Elite 4 in Pokémon X first, but I don't want to miss out on the free Torchic with Blazikenite in either game, so I'll have to start Y and get far enough into it to Mystery Gift to get that, and I'll have to do so before January 14th. 
Once I get that established, I think that I'll actually resume my Soul Silver run before my Y run, before I get too accustomed to these fancy new graphics, etc.  In either case, though, I'll still try to do "whole" days, but my current focus is on Pokémon X, so there might not be anything substantial from either Nuzlocke challenge for a while. 

Pokémon X Update: December 2013

I thought that I should post an update regarding my Pokémon X progress.  
At the moment, I'm trying to reach and then defeat the Elite 4.  Unfortunately, the holidays kind of put a damper on things, keeping me busy and all that. 
I was hoping to be past the Elite 4 by Xmas, since that's the condition, as I learned, to get certain pokémon that I was hoping to put out on Wonder Trade.  The reasoning - which I originally saw on twitter - was that a lot of kids would be starting their Kalos adventures on Xmas, so we should supply them with decent wonder trades, once they start doing that.  It's still not long after Xmas, so I'm still trying to do what I can.  I also looked up some egg moves for a pokémon that appears later in the game, so, failing anything else, I can always hatch a bunch of little egglings for them. 
(FYI, I have six badges, so I need two more before challenging the Elite 4.)  
I'm still sticking with only using Generation VI pokémon.  The core of my team so far is Greninja, Doublade, and Hawlucha.  I've trained various things off and on.  At the moment, I'm working on leveling an Inkay, though I'll probably have Meowstic on my team when I face the Elite 4. 


I do want to mention that the Battle Chateau is a very nice feature.  I basically get unlimited trainer battles, so I don't have to fight mere wild pokémon when I play catch-up on levels. 

A Sunday Gauntlet

I've decided to give myself some goals tomorrow, so that this plan doesn't go completely to waste. 
1.  I intend to beat the next gym leader (#5 I think) in Pokémon X. 
2.  I intend to assemble the 3D pieces of my copy of Ogre. 
3.  During #2, I intend to try to catch up on Sleepy Hollow.  This is limited to during Ogre assembly time, though, so there's no guarantee that I'll get fully caught up.
4.  Bonus goal:  Beat the next gym leader after item #1 (so, 6th gym leader, if I recall correctly). 

I mean, I'm just really far behind on Pokémon X, so I need to get kraken!  Wait.... 

P.S.:  5.  Bonus goal:  Rock Smash until I finally find an Old Amber.  I stumbled across a hint that this might only be possible in Glittering Cave, so I'll try there.  

Regarding the Introduction to Mega Evolution

The player's introduction to Mega Evolution in Pokémon X & Y would have been easy to mess up, but I think that they got it right. 



By the way, there are some spoilers in this post. 



The way that we get a Lucario from Korrina still feels slightly forced, but at least they put in scenes prior to that that indicate that it was taking a liking to us.  The main good thing about this is that we don't have to level up a pokémon to the Mega Evolution point on our own.  From what I recall, we only get one (I'm not counting Mega Blaziken since that promotion will end), and I was trying to do a team of only new pokémon, so finding out that I had to swap out my Gogoat for my Bulbasaur and grind it until I got Venusaur would have been tedious. 
Since they're including most pokémon from every generation in these games, I think that I'll eventually make a team from each generation.  I just realized that I can include both Mega Venusaur and Mega Aerodactyl on my Gen I team - at least after I dig up some Old Amber. 
I do hope one thing, going forward:  If they decide in Generation VII to give a new Mega Evolution to a previous-generation pokémon, then they should at least not try to do any fancy tricks to explain it away.  You just never had, I don't know, Dragoniteite or whatever.  It's that simple.

Regarding Pokémon X & Y

I thought that I should put my overall thoughts out there regarding the upcoming sixth generation of the Pokémon franchise.
Overall, I like the Pokémon franchise.  I have some criticisms of it, but most changes seem to be just a little fiddling about, not much good or bad about it.  There are a few things that, for me, are kind of a big deal, so I'll lay them out here:

• Making TMs infinite-use takes away a large part of the benefit of breeding.  Now, aside from egg moves, (sometimes) hidden abilities, and just getting more of some hard-to-get-but-still-breedable species (starters, Snorlax, hard-to-get slots/Safari pokémon, etc.), the main benefit has to do with EVs and IVs and all that math-behind-the-game stuff.  I generally don't like this sort of thing in thematic games, anyway:  While I understand that a fair computer game must have numbers and rules behind it, it really detracts from the spirit of the game.  
• They keep taking away things that were just fine.  This is somewhat lesser of a point, but I still find it weird that apricorns and contests were removed and not put back in.  
• Held items are good!  I know that this was introduced in Gen II, but this was one of the most meaningful additions to the game.  
• Abilities are also good!  See above.  
• There are far too many pokémon to reasonably catch them all.  This was addressed slightly in Black & White, in that Unova had no overlap in pokémon with previous regions, so it was easy enough to just pretend that the (apparently 150) were all that there were, but it's still kind of an issue.  
• Catching them all is no longer the goal of the game; defeating the Elite Four is the new goal.  I know that both have always been goals, and this is essentially a plot/story thing, but this is still kind of a big deal for me.  The main character is no longer a budding naturalist, but is instead a glorified cockfighter.  I always understood that the player's goal was to defeat the Elite Four and become Champion and so on, but I also knew that this was just a smaller goal on the much longer path of catching all of the known pokémon, in-game.  I think that the reason that they don't keep this model is for the reason that I mentioned above, that there are way too many pokémon for that to be at all feasible.  In the first five generations alone, there are now 649 pokémon (I had to look it up), not counting whatever's coming out this fall. 
• The addition of  the Dark and Steel types seemed unnecessary at the time, but they've meshed well with the other types, so I'm fine with it.  
• Making the physical/special quality of an attack independent of its type is an interesting way to increase the complexity of strategy.  
• I still dislike the wall between generations two and three.  
• As with so many modern games, I dislike the increased dependence on external web-based stuff to get everything.  In this case, the Pokémon Dream World is what Gen V uses, and it's actually being shut down over the course of the next six months or so.  I don't at all mind the use of personal peripherals to augment a game, such as the PokéWalker for HeartGold and SoulSilver, since that's entirely in control of the game's owner.  If I take care of it, I'll be able to use my PokéWalker (with new batteries, of course) decades from now, whereas the Dream World will be gone forever.  

 I had a big gap for a few years, when new Pokémon games came out faster than I could be aware of them.  Emerald came out before I finished Ruby, but I didn't feel that it was that big of a deal, since it would just be a re-hash of Ruby and Sapphire, anyway.  FireRed and LeafGreen came out and I didn't even know; at the time, I wasn't aware of the two/three wall, since I hadn't gotten around to it.  Diamond and Pearl came out, and then Platinum.  I was lucky enough that, by the time that I got back into Pokémon, I could still find HeartGold and SoulSilver in stores, so I got them while the getting was good.  (That reminds me:  There's a used video game shop two towns over, which I was meaning to check out some time.  I still should, since they might have some of the missed games.) 
Whatever happens, I plan to more-or-less drop my current games when X and Y come out, partly because the few people that I know who do play Pokémon keep very current on it, and partly because of things like limited-time code pokémon and the like, that require keeping current to get the most out of the experience.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to get the same experience as everyone else, at least for a time, and be able to get a feel for it as a current event, rather than as a game. 

One other thing:  I like that Gen VI will be a global release, rather than our having to wait half a year or whatever for it.