Video Game Update July 2016

I mentioned like 2 months ago that I'd be playing Overwatch and Battleborn this year, which is odd for me mostly in that I don't usually play the new shinies.  Well, the short version is that Overwatch runs better than Battleborn, has shorter rounds, and has shorter queues, and I've only got so much time in my day, so it's been winning out for me. 
As for other games, I did recently scratch my FTL itch a few times, and I still keep up on Hearthstone and the Sentinels of the Multiverse weekly one-shot, but that's pretty much it for now. 
Yay boring updates! 

Regarding Battleborn & Overwatch

I mentioned last month that, during this month, I'd talk a bit about the new games that came out:  Battleborn (by Gearbox) and Overwatch (by Blizzard).  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to play either game nearly as much as I'd like, but I think that I can give something of a summary of my impressions of these games. 
In short, Battleborn is better if you're after strategic depth and long play, but Overwatch is better if you're after a more tactical experience and shorter games.  I've also found both games to have noticeable shortcomings.  In Battleborn's case, a typical match is 5v5, but, in the interest of not constantly resetting matchmaking, if someone drops, then the game can continue as 5v4, but the team that's a man down isn't compensated in any way, meaning that they're always fighting at a severe disadvantage.  For Overwatch, it comes back to the character vs. class issue:  While it's possible to play a highlander-equivalent mode in a custom game, custom games require inviting people; quick-play matches have no character limits, and there's no way to quick-join a character-limited match. 
I hope to have deeper reviews at some later point, but that'll have to wait until next month, as I don't have the time right now to play these games enough to do the reviews justice. 

My Video Game Status for May 2016

Well, I haven't touched Minecraft in ages, but I'll soon be playing 2 upcoming FPSes:  Battleborn and Overwatch.  (The short version of why I got both is:  I pre-ordered Overwatch before I heard about Battleborn.)  This does mean that I'm almost certainly looking at a long hiatus on TF2, since I have 2 different ways to get my shooter fix. 
My life is currently quite disorganized, which is why, when I've played video games, it's been a lot of quickies:  Hearthstone here, Heroes of the Storm there, but never zenning out on Minecraft or attempting FTL again.  I'm getting things organized, but it's tough, so it's still going to be at least a couple of months before I get back into those again. 
That's all for now.  I'll probably report back on the new shooters at the end of May.  ;)

An Initial Review of Civilization V

Recently, there was a free weekend on Steam for Sid Meier's Civilization:  Beyond Earth, and I took a crack at it.  I enjoyed it, even though I didn't finish it.  However, it occurred to me that I'd never actually played a game in the Civilization series.  All of the Civilization titles were 75% off on Steam that weekend, so I went ahead and picked up Sid Meier's Civilization V. 
I've finally finished my first game of it. 
I really quite enjoyed the game.  There's a lot to it, but because of the way that civilizations progress, it's not all dumped out at once.  Also, it's turn-based, so I'm not rushed while trying to learn it.  I did play it on the easy difficulty, but that gave me a chance to make some mistakes during my first play-through. 
I can't wait to play on the normal setting, and probably on a bigger map. 
One thing that I noticed in the design of the game is that, even if one isn't going for a given type of victory, it still behooves one to progress that area, so nothing gets abandoned.  For instance, even if one isn't going for domination victory, it's still a good idea to have a strong enough standing army to defend against invaders.  Likewise, Culture is useful both to make someone else's Culture Victory harder and because it unlocks special abilities. 
It's a short review, I know, but if you want an in-depth look at the mechanics - well, it's been out since 2010, so I'm sure that you can find reviews and wikis on it. 

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 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. 

Hearthstone: Curse of Naxxramas: It's Highly Addictive!

Curse of Naxxramas, the first content expansion pack for Hearthstone, dropped last week.  They're releasing it over five weeks, so it's not all out yet, but the Arachnid Quarter is out (and free), and the Plague Quarter opened up today (for 700 gold). 
Each quarter gives three decently challenging AIs, beating each of which grants a pair of cards for the set.  Beating all three grants a legendary card (identified as the 3rd boss).  Beating all three also opens up two (so far) class challenges, by which one may earn a pair of class-specific cards. 
However, the real addiction comes from the fact that beating all three bosses of a wing on normal unlocks them all on Heroic, which is a super-difficult setting.  I'm still trying to beat Maexxna on it!  (As an aside:  Counter-intuitively, I found Druid to be the easiest class for defeating Faerlina on Heroic.) 
Must... win... Heroic!... 

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. 

Hearthstone: It's Highly Addictive!

So, I've seen ads for Hearthstone, a new online CCG from Blizzard and spin-off of their ever-profitable, ever-addictive World of Warcraft game, all over the place for the past several weeks.  However, it was actually hearing about the game from some addicts players on an unrelatd podcast that got me interested in it.  In particular, the fact that it's free to play convinced me to give it a shot. 
It plays similarly to Magic: the Gathering, but with a lot of differences, if that makes sense.  (I could list the differences, but that would be a wall of text that wouldn't convey much meaning without more details.) 
The main thing to note is that in-game gold can be earned both by winning normal matches and by doing daily quests.  Furthermore, daily quests seem to exclusively involve winning matches under certain circumstances, which overlaps nicely with the 10-gold-per-3-wins thing that's always on. 
Gold is used to buy booster packs, and also to enter the Arena - an asynchronous tournament similar to what SolForge uses - which guarantees a booster pack as a final prize, even if you completely wash out, so it's never really a waste - though one doesn't keep the drafted cards, just the after-tourney booster & possible other prizes. 
I also like the way that they do classes:  Each deck starts w/ a class, which has its own unique once-per-turn 2-mana ability, and the available cards are those specific to that class or the large set of neutral cards.  This allows each class to feel different, not just because of its ability, but also because of what cards are available to it.  For instance, it looks like only the Druid has any kind of mana acceleration available to him, while everyone else has to just gain 1 per turn until hitting the universal limit of 10.  Warlocks have Demons, Hunters have Beasts, Priests get lots of strong 1-off effects, Paladins suck, Rogues stab, etc.  I assume that this also somehow correlates to what they do in WoW, but I've never played that, so whatever.  Though, I do apparently get a free mount if I ever sign up for it. 
So, that's my overview of Hearthstone:  quite fun, pretty addictive

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. 

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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. 

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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.