the very best, pt. xxv
Welcome back, friends and enemies, to The Very Best, our ongoing quest to document how cool and talented all of the NPC trainers are in Pokemon X. Last time we finished up the Snowbelle Gym; this week, it's the last stop on our journey before we hit Victory Road! Let's begin.
Cleaning Up
Route 21 is a fairly short route: a handful of Ace Trainers and Veterans, some items hidden behind a block-pushing puzzle. It's not meant to be a climax, I think; rather, it seems like it's intended as a prelude for Victory Road: everyone we encounter from now on is meant, in-universe, to be a fairly accomplished Trainer. Ideally that means fewer people with a low Skill Rating, but that is yet to be seen.
Route 21 also helpfully leads us right back to Route 22, one of the very earliest routes we can hang out on, where we now have Surf and Waterfall and the ability to check out some previously inaccessible areas. So we're doing that. The thing is, though those Trainers seem like they were meant to be endgame trainers, they're sitting at, like, level 30, about the level you'd be if you just came back here with Surf. But they aren't accessible until right now. It seems apparent that something changed in the design that left this pair in such an odd state. I'm going to try to judge them as if they were at an appropriate level. (Possibly I should have done that for that one Youngster who was too low level for when he appeared, but I thought that one was funny.)
I've also circled back to pick up some of the trainers on Route 8, which I had apparently intended to do before the Lumiose Badlands and just forgot about at that point? And then, because I didn't remember that he was a fight, we also fight the Victory Road gatekeeper.
Let's begin.
Route 21: Ace Trainer Mireille
Mireille has a Sableye and a Crustle, at level 55 and level 56. Sableye's base stats are pretty poor, but it's never been about that. It's a utility Pokemon, and it's got access to some pretty solid moves; Mireille's had Confuse Ray and Foul Play. (Sadly I don't think it had Prankster, the Hidden Ability that really makes Sableye sing.)1 The dream seems to be to set up confusion, perish, and then leave the opponent's Pokemon confused for Crustle, which had Shell Smash and Rock Wrecker. And it worked: even with Rock Wrecker's recharge turn, it hit so hard it wiped out two of my Pokemon on its own. I'm almost tempted to give this setup a perfect score but while it did cause me some problems, Crustle is very slow before Shell Smash, and Sableye isn't much better; if you outspeed either or both of her Pokemon the strategy becomes a lot riskier. Skill Rating: 4/5
Mireille is talking about how her partners have been with her from the very beginning of her journey (which I think suggests she probably started her journey in Shalour City); they have been with her for every defeat, she tells us and, after we beat her, "I know that someday fate will part us... That’s why I take every battle we have together seriously!" I respect this. Coolness Rating: 5/5
Route 21: Ace Duo Elina & Sean
Elina and Sean bring a level 57 Wailord and a level 57 Vileplume to the table. I think I have been on the record as not being particularly fond of the "buckets of HP but not much else" archetype, but Wailord actually has respectable enough offensive stats to make it work; Vileplume is a solid all-rounder. Both are fairly slow. This team is solid, but not really remarkable: Wailord's Water Spout is the big winner here, and it isn't fast enough to land that early enough to be scary. Still, Vileplume has access to Stun Spore, and you can see the dream: slow 'em down and spam Water Spout until the opponent's team is obliterated. Skill Rating: 3/5
Elina and Sean bring a weird energy to the table. Sean is being tautological about what defines a strong team (a strong trainer and strong Pokemon) and then, for whatever reason, when we talk to him after defeating him, says, "Fool! All it takes to form a stronger team is to become a stronger Trainer and have your Pokémon become stronger, too!" Why is he shouting "Fool!" at us? Why is he saying 'all it takes to become stronger is to become stronger?' Elina is saying that memorizing all the Pokemon moves and items and abilities leads to victory, and then clarifies later that she means that it's easy to come up with a good strategy once you've done that. It is certainly a component, I guess. Also their lines on defeat are "Abracadabra!" and "Hocus pocus!" and that's bizarre. Coolness Rating: 2/5
Route 21: Ace Trainer Evan
Evan has a level 58 Chandelure. If we are being honest, I think Chandelure is my favorite Pokemon (and it pains me to not include one on my team here, but it would be very redundant with Delphox); what can I say? I like spooky ghosts. Apart from a lackluster HP stat (and attack, but that really isn't relevant) Chandelure has a respectable stat spread, with 80s and 90s in everything else, except Sp. Atk, which is 145. That's an enormous amount of offensive power, and defensive stats good enough that it can almost certainly last long enough to make it count. Skill Rating: 5/5
Evan feels like he is "missing something", and is unwilling to face Victory Road prior to finding out what that is.2 Then we defeat him and he says he's figured it out; then he delivers the line, "Some people think that losing is a bad thing. If you ask me, those people are ignoring opportunities to learn and improve!" I like Evan. Coolness Rating: 5/5
Route 21: Veteran Trisha
Trisha has a level 59 Tyrantrum. I quite like Tyrantrum; Rock/Dragon is a fairly strong typing and it's got good stats, enough to really cause some problems. It mainly has never found its way onto my team because I usually try to bring at least one pseudo-legendary and that would pretty generally be the same slot as Tyrantrum. But it's good. Skill Rating: 5/5
Trisha has apparently been waiting here (on Route 21, I assume?) since she was "an innocent Lass" for her sweetheart to come back. She says she knows he never will, but her Pokemon have made it easier for her to wait. Girl, you can just leave. Coolness Rating: 2/5
Route 21: Veteran Louis
Louis has a level 55 Hippowdon and a level 57 Aurorus. The gimmick here seems to be Sandstorm (Hippowdon's Sand Stream sets it up) and Protect, which both Pokemon have. It's not the worst gimmick in the world, but it's not amazing, either; both Pokemon are quite slow, and Aurorus has a couple of x4 weaknesses (vs Steel and Fighting). I don't think this team is incapable of winning but it doesn't really have anything to give it an edge, either. Skill Rating: 3/5
Route 22: Ace Trainer Adelbert
Our first cleanup trainer! Adelbert has a level 31 Lucario. Lucario is very good; good stats, great typing, good moveset, versatile. It's held back somewhat in Gen 6 by limited access to Steel-type moves, but while Steel got a major boost offensively with the addition of the Fairy type, it's otherwise not getting you much that Fighting doesn't already cover, and it has some solid coverage options besides. Skill Rating: 4/5
Adelbert is being a bit self-sabotaging here. He introduces himself by saying he only befriends people "from whom I can learn something", which . . . look, I like learning as much as the next ghost, but that's a weird standoffish thing to say even if the sentiment is understandable. Then we crush him (because we're like 20 levels higher than him by now) and he's suddenly begging to be our friend. This is very uncool behavior. Coolness Rating: 1/5
Route 22: Ace Trainer Hilde
Hilde has a Sharpedo and a Gardevoir, at level 29 and level 30. This is a solid team; Sharpedo is very fragile but it hits real hard, and Gardevoir is just always a solid addition. Sharpedo is a fine example of a Pokemon that, at level 30, is phenomenal, and at level 50 is merely solid, as its fragile stat spread starts to catch up; Gardevoir, on the other hand, has a somewhat lackluster moveset until level 40 when it picks up Psychic.3 This oddly balances out: if it were just Gardevoir or just Sharpedo I'd have a hard time rating them, since it's not clear to me whether I should pretend they're pushing level 60, as you'd expect from when they're available, or if I should treat them like they were fightable at level 30, but since Gardevoir is better later and Sharpedo is better earlier, the debate ends up not mattering. Skill Rating: 4/5
Hilde seems very hyped to be battling us, and seems to enjoy being defeated, though she may be a touch histrionic about it: "You beat me badly, and it feels great! What’s destroyed once can be rebuilt! Out with the old me and in with the new!" You know what, sure. Coolness Rating: 4/5
Route 8: Swimmer Esteban
Estaban has a Skrelp and a Horsea, both at level 28. I'll be honest: at this point I am a little out of touch with what the teams at this level should look like, but looking at the level 30-ish teams of Hilde and Adelbert, I am pretty confident in saying this team is not a winning one. Skill Rating: 2/5
Estaban asks if we have what it takes to "swim in the great ocean." We do, Estaban. We do. I appreciate that he advises that people learn to swim even though "Pokémon are always nearby, ready to save people from drowning"--it is an eminently reasonable thing to not just assume you will be saved if something bad happens to you. (This is also an odd worldbuilding detail. Is that a thing?) Coolness Rating: 3/5
Route 8: Swimmer Ramses
Ramses has a level 30 Tentacool. Tentacool literally evolves at this level and I am not sure why he hasn't done this yet; there is no reasonable reason to do this, you are saving a couple levels here and there on learning some moves and the stat boost here is huge. Skill Rating: 2/5
Ramses is smug, and suggests that we "Don't drown, OK?" then almost drowns when we defeat him. He tells us he wishes he could swim in "the shallow parts" and also on land. All right, man. Coolness Rating: 2/5
Route 8: Sky Trainer Colm
Colm has a Mantyke at level 28 and a Jumpluff at level 29. Mantyke's very high special defense is less likely to come up against common flying types, and Jumpluff's Grass typing makes it vulnerable to, well, Flying types, but its stat spread is strong enough that it can probably at least land a hit or two before going down. Still, I'm inclined to think this team is somewhat lackluster in the Sky Battle meta. Skill Rating: 2/5
Colm is saying generic "I like flying" stuff. I get it. Flying rules. But you gotta do something to stand out. Nothing against Colm, but I have favorite Sky Trainers, and he's probably not making the finals. Coolness Rating: 3/5
Victory Road Entrance: Ace Trainer Robbie
Robbie has a Carbink at level 56, a Raichu at level 56, and a Kingdra at level 57. Carbink is an odd one, with a base stat of 150 in Defense and Sp. Def and 50 in everything else; it's tanky but doesn't really have anything to do with that tankiness. If it had better support moves I'd rate it fairly highly, but nope. The Raichu/Kingdra core, though, I quite like--and his Raichu even has Grass Knot! It isn't completely walled by Ground types! Carbink brings the rating down, though. Skill Rating: 3/5
Robbie is the gatekeeper of Victory Road. He seems very friendly, but I suspect this is a customer service sort of friendliness: of course he says we're fantastic and wishes us joy and success on the road ahead. That's his job. But I think he's doing his job pretty well--it's a much warmer well-wishing than is strictly called for by the social contract. I hope the League pays you well, Robbie. Coolness Rating: 4/5
And with that, we put our battle with Robbie behind us and unlock the cool impractical gate, and approach Victory Road. I think I'll be breaking Victory Road into two parts, separated by our battle with Calem--that is roughly the halfway point, trainer-wise. Victory Road is usually my favorite part of a Pokemon game these days; it's a long dungeon full of trainers and lots of little puzzles and side areas to explore.
I actually saved right at the gate, because that felt dramatically appropriate, but in retrospect I think I'm probably going to run back to town and make sure I'm fully stocked on items that aren't Moomoo Milk, which I have over 100 of. The important thing about dungeon delving, after all, is preparation.
So: a two-part Victory Road, followed by the Elite Four and the Champion (who will get their own week), and then we'll do the Looker Detective Agency storyline, which . . . is going to be a little odd for our format, but I think is mostly straightforward and hopefully shouldn't be too long to write up. And then we're done here! I have some plans for more Case by Case apocrypha as a brief followup to this, so if you were a fan of that series . . . good news, I guess!
But we're not done yet. Victory Road is long, and we still have a champion to best. Thank you as ever for reading, friends, and I will see you here next time.
I have always been of the opinion that Hidden Abilities need to be featured more often in the main games. ORAS's DexNav made finding Pokemon with their HA feasible; I think features like Dynamax and Terastallized Pokemon in recent gens have also allowed it, but those feel . . . weird. And it would be cool if trainer classes which are meant to represent more skilled Trainers would occasionally have an HA in the mix. And held items. And all of these other things that are mainly left for competitive players to care about. There's so much depth to these games that the casual player just has no reason to interact with.↩
It has always bothered me a little bit that we are usually the only name on the "certified trainers" statues at the Gyms. There are clearly other Trainers who have won badges, and, indeed, won all 8 badges. (There are, by my count, over 20 Trainers in Kalos' Victory Road.)↩
ORAS extensively revamped the Ralts line's learnset, so Gardevoir line learns some actual Fairy moves before Moonblast, and generally learns offensive moves earlier; most notably they moved Psychic and Moonblast earlier, so it now gets Psychic at level 31 and Moonblast at level 62; they were previously level 40 and level 85(!), respectively. Dazzling Gleam is also available as a TM about ten levels earlier, I believe.↩