Pokemon Black Log: Part 1
It should come as no shock that I bought Pokemon Black. And Pokemon White too, but I got Black first and haven’t touched White yet. Anyway, my goal was to go into this game as fresh and blind as possible. No planning my team, no looking up catching details, no looking up the teams of gym leaders or rivals, etc. I don’t know much about the new Pokemon either, so a lot of their types and evolutions are complete mysteries to me. I also did my best to avoid spoilers about the overall plot and other minor details, but I did read up on a lot of the new features before the games were released in Japan.
I took a lot of notes as I played, and I ended up including many plot spoilers that I didn’t want to try editing around. So, be warned. There are many spoilers, and many words in general (in mostly disjointed sentences and paragraphs). I dread proofreading it all. Also, can you figure out the totally clever naming scheme I used?
In the opening video, my first thought was, “What the hell is this RPG shit? Is this really Pokemon?” It looked more like a SNES style medieval fantasy. And I noticed that Mystery Gift was already unlocked, so I downloaded the Liberty Pass right away. After that, I actually created my game, and I was very happy to discover there was now a QWERTY option for entering names. That makes things so much better. And I liked that Professor Juniper (Araragi?) introduced me to my best friends, Cheren and Bianca (Bel?).
When the game finally started, the season was Autumn! The rare season I’d missed for most of my life. My best friends and I then picked our starters from a pretty gift box. I chose Tsutarja (Snivy). And right away, Bianca wanted to fight me with her Mijumaru (Oshawott). I was surprised to see the all caps names were gone, and the way the battle screen moved around took some getting used to. The field graphics were also weird at first, with the change in perspective and (apparent) shift in dimensions. Also, the characters’ heads seemed so big. But after I fought Bianca and trashed my room, I fought Cheren and his Pokabu (Tepig).
I received the Xtransceiver (the new all-in-one communicator, I guess?) as I left my house. Could they have picked a weirder name? Once I stepped outside, I was surprised to see some Koromori (Woobat) flying around. Apparently the first town is called Nuvema Town? Sounds like a birth control name. But while exploring, I noticed that Bianca’s dad seems really mean and strict, and that the grass was swaying in the wind. Then I headed into the lab, where I learned that Juniper is studying Pokemon origins or something. And I finally got to name my Snivy: “Gokuu.” I also got the Pokedex and then the Town Map. But no Running Shoes?
Route 1: I saw leaves blowing around everywhere! Juniper demonstrated catching by having her Minccino (Chillarmy?) fight a Patrat. Then she gave me some Poke Balls so I could do it myself. Yay. On our way to Accumula Town, my friends mentioned something about a contest to catch the most Pokemon…? Which I was gonna do anyway. First I caught Patrat! Named it “Blooma.” Then I caught Yorterry (Lillipup)! Named it “Sea Turtle.” That should have won me the contest, but I didn’t seem to get anything for it. Oh well.
Accumula Town: Per Juniper’s request, I immediately headed to the new Pokemon Center. So big and fancy now. Juniper told me to meet Fennel in Striaton City, and I picked up the Liberty Pass from the delivery guy. When I stepped back outside, there was a commotion in the town plaza. A guy named Ghetsis and Team Plasma gave a speech about freeing the Pokemon. Some guy named N appeared to agree with them, and then challenged me to a battle. After some more exploring, I left this town, through a really crazy high-tech gate thing. Whoa.
Route 2: The Xtransceiver rang as soon as I exited the gate, and it was my mom, who instantly appeared to give me the Running Shoes. Finally! But minus the awesome perma-run option from HGSS. Back to holding down B again. I then encountered a giant Strength boulder here. Holy crap. And some guy tried to impress me by jumping a ledge. He failed. I also found a Cut tree. Looks just like Sudowoodo! And I caught Purrloin! Named it “T. Hermit.” At the end of the route, Bianca wanted a fight. I was low on health, so T. Hermit died. :[
Striaton City: The west edge of town had a pretty garden and a big fountain! But a kid blocked me from seeing Fennel, so I figured I needed a badge. The gym leader was apparently busy at the trainer school, but when I went to the school, he was already gone. Instead, I fought Cheren there. The gym leader then returned to the gym, but insisted I prepare for Fire type at the Dreamyard. Inside the gym was Clyde the guide, who gave me a free Fresh Water.
Dreamyard: At the glorified junkyard, some girl decided to give me a Panpour. Named it “Oolong.” There wasn’t much else to do, since an orange cone and another Cut tree blocked things off.
Striaton Gym: This gym had some neat curtain puzzles, but they were super easy. The whole thing looked like a very elaborate restaurant. But the leaders were Chili, Cress, and Cilan (Dent!). I ended up fighting Chili. His Lillipup was tough, but his Pansear went down really fast. Trio Badge get!
Striaton City: As predicted, I could finally see Fennel. She said she researches trainers and gave me HM01 Cut. She also wanted some Dream Mist from a Munna for Game Sync, or something. And her friend Amanita was there too, who apparently designed the Unova box system. But back to Dreamyard, I guess.
Dreamyard: After cutting the tree here, I found Bianca. And a Munna. And Team Plasma, who apparently planned to use the Dream Mist to force people to free their Pokemon. I fought the two Team Plasma Grunts, and then an angry Ghetsis started teleporting everywhere…!? But apparently it was just a dream caused by a Musharna. Crazy shit. Fennel then showed up and picked up her own Dream Mist. After all that was over, I saw some shaky grass, and it had a Tabunne (Audino), which I managed to catch. Named it “Puer.” I also caught Munna! Named it “Yamcha.” My team was finally full, but I decided to swap out Puer for Yamcha.
Current Team: Gokuu (Snivy), Blooma (Patrat), Sea Turtle (Lillipup), T. Hermit (Purrloin), Oolong (Panpour), and Yamcha (Munna).
Striaton City: I spoke to Fennel again and got the C-Gear. The Game Sync stuff sounded complicated, so I’m almost glad it’s not running yet. Then Amanita gave me a Pal Pad.
Route 3: Here was the daycare already. And a human daycare that heals your Pokemon. Cheren wanted to fight again. As soon as that was over, Bianca suddenly appeared, along with a little girl. They were chasing Plasmas because the girl’s Pokemon was stolen. Before helping with that, I caught Mamepato (Pidove)! Named it “Bull Demon.” Also caught Shimama (Blitzle)! Named it “Chichi-sa,” since just “Chichi” is apparently not allowed. What the hell. I then swapped out Blooma and T. Hermit for Bull Demon and Chichi-sa.
Current Team: Gokuu (Snivy), Sea Turtle (Lillipup), Oolong (Panpour), Yamcha (Munna), Bull Demon (Pidove), and Chichi-sa (Blitzle).
Cheren was waiting for me at a cave entrance, and we finally headed inside.
Wellspring Cave: Right away I caught Roggenrola (some kind of bomb rock thing?)! Named it “Kuririn.” The Team Plasma guys said Pokemon hate kids because they’re not hardcore enough or something. I fight one Team Plasma Grunt, and Cheren apparently did the same. We tried to return the stolen Pokemon, but more Plasmas then showed up. So Cheren and I had a 2v2 fight against the other Team Plasma Grunts. Finally, they gave us back the Pokemon, but insisted that it’s suffering. Cheren seemed confused by all this. Then I caught Woobat! Named it “Lunch.” As I was leaving, I saw some ground rumbling, and when I went to it there was a Leaf Stone…? Weird.
Route 3: I returned the Pokemon to the girl, and she gave me Heal Balls as a reward. And she finally let me go south. Along the way, Cheren stopped me and said dark grass can have two Pokemon pop up at once. Then he left for Nacrene City. Another crazy gate soon led me to Nacrene City.
Nacrene City: Cheren greeted me, gave me some berries, and said the gym leader here uses Normal type. Lots of people in this town had big hiking backpacks, and there were train tracks that led to a dead end. One girl gave me a Miracle Seed for Gokuu. Another girl wanted a Cottonee for a Petilil, and I think the latter is otherwise a White exclusive…? Good deal. After looking through every building, I tried to head into the gym, but N got in the way. He said stuff about a perfect future and seeing the truth, then wanted to fight. He had some weird Pokemon I hadn’t seen yet, including a rodent holding a 2×4.
After I beat him, he babbled about needing more power, and claimed to need… Zekrom. Wrong game, buddy. I then headed for the gym, which is part of a museum! A scientist gave me a tour, and showed me a Dragonite (?) skeleton. Turned out he’s Hawes, the gym leader’s husband. In the gym section, Clyde gave me another Fresh Water, and suggested I get some Fighting types from Pinwheel Forest. He also told me I have to get books here.
Pinwheel Forest: Some girl gave me TM94 Rock Smash. Joy. I also fought a nurse who gave free heals after I beat her. Then I caught Tympole! Named it “Namu.” Also caught Timburr! Named it “Sno.” I punched a Challenge Rock and got a Star Piece, for some reason. I couldn’t go deeper into the forest because some Plasma dudes were in the way. Finally, I caught Sawk! Named it “Hatchan.” And I decided to swap out Yamcha and Bull Demon for Lunch and Hatchan.
Current Team: Gokuu (Snivy), Sea Turtle (Lillipup), Oolong (Panpour), Chichi-sa (Blitzle), Lunch (Woobat), Hatchan (Sawk).
Nacrene Gym: The book puzzles here were mostly simple, but a lot better than the last gym. It didn’t take long before it was time to face Aloe (Lenora). I’ve heard horror stories about her. But perhaps those horror stories came from people without a Sawk, because Hatchan destroyed her. At the end of the battle, Gokuu evolved into a Servine! Basic Badge get! But then Hawes showed up and said Team Plasma wants to steal bones. How rude of them.
Nacrene City: Back in the museum, Plasma used a cloud of smoke to steal the Dragonite skull! So very rude. Outside, Burgh, another gym leader, suddenly showed up, followed by Bianca and Cheren. Burgh and I headed to Pinwheel Forest to search for the thieves. But not before Bianca gave me a Dowsing Machine!
Pinwheel Forest: Burgh and I could now go into the deeper part. He offered to take the straight path, while I was stuck with the winding path. Uh oh. Some Pokemon Rangers gave me berries when I beat them. At one point, Sea Turtle evolved into a Herdier! Then I found and fought one Team Plasma Grunt, who killed Lunch because I didn’t realize Meguroco (Sandile) was Dark type. :[ He said he doesn’t have the skull. Nor did the second Team Plasma Grunt. As I trekked along, I caught Kurumiru (Sewaddle)! Named it “Dr. Brief.” And I found a giant moss covered stone (for Leafeon?). I also caught Cottonee! Named it “Mama.” I then caught lots more of them, since they’re Black exclusives (and I needed one for that trade in Nacrene). But they didn’t get names. Later, I caught Venipede! Named it “Arale.”
Another Team Plasma Grunt. I realized that the Plasma battle logo reminds me of drawing emblems in Guardian Signs. But this one was just buying time. Still no skull. Some shaking grass had a Panpour. That’s the one monkey I didn’t need. :[ Yet another Team Plasma Grunt. This one finally had the Dragon(ite) Skull! Yay! Then some robed guy named Gorm showed up to comfort the grunt. Apparently one of the Seven Sages? Gorm said this skull wasn’t from a certain legendary dragon anyway, but he’ll still punish me. Then Burgh came to the rescue! …And Lenora! So the Plasmas decided to retreat after all. Burgh then wandered off, and Lenora gave me a Moon Stone in exchange for the skull. Woop. And some old guy blocked off a big patch of grass because there are “fierce Pokemon” in there. Boo.
Skyarrow Bridge: Crazy close-up perspective outside the gate. And some guy gave me a Quick Claw! When I got to the actual bridge, there was even crazier camera stuff. And the bridge twisted around! I loved seeing the boats in the sea and the city skyline.
Castelia City: TALL BUILDINGS EVERYWHERE. Some scientist gave me a Water Stone to evolve Oolong! I looked up when to use it, and decided to wait until 43 for Crunch. Some guy was complaining and said “Grumble, grumble…” I found the boat that will take me to Victini, but I decided to put it off. I explored Passerby Analytics and took all their surveys. Then I went to the Battle Company and beat up everyone, and the boss gave me the Exp. Share as a prize. One of the piers had a big boat called the Royal Unova, but I couldn’t ride it yet.
I went down one street, Castelia Street, and noticed lots of pop up speech bubbles! It had the Game Freak building and a girl that gives Pokemon massages. I loved that the vending machines now have the cursor default to the previous choice. Street led to a pretty central plaza with a giant fountain and some dancing guy, who wanted me to recruit other dancers. I headed forward down another street, which seemed to lead out of town to Route 4. One building had a party with tight security and foreign language speakers, and another had a Name Rater. I also unlocked the Relocator there, though it’s currently useless to me. In another building, some guy gave me an… Eviolite? What?
Mode Street had an outdoor ice cream shop for Casteliacones, but they were all sold out. Also had a painting gallery of Unova legendaries. Narrow Street had a bunch of dumpsters. Some guy popped out of one and gave me TM70 Flash. I recruited another dancer here, and noticed some old dudes laughing suspiciously. There was also Cafe Sonata, where the bartender gave me a Lemonade and some guy played guitar. Then the final (unnamed?) street had one completely empty building. And the gym! Cheren popped out of it and said Burgh is tough. Then Burgh popped out and said he remembers me, but he wouldn’t fight me yet because Team Plasma was apparently at Prime Pier.
Team Plasma apparently took Bianca’s Munna! Oh no. Iris (!!!) tried to stop them, but failed because the city is too big. A Plasma guy then showed up, but then saw us and darted. I went to chase him together with Burgh, while Iris stayed with Bianca. We soon found them at the (formerly) empty building near the gym. I fought Team Plasma Grunt, while Burgh apparently did too. After we beat the grunts, they rushed inside to report to the Seven Sages. Iris and Bianca then arrived and ran inside along with Burgh.
Bronius, Ghetsis, and Gorm (?) talked about the legend of Unova’s creation. A black dragon appeared before a hero to help unite the people. And they want to bring back the hero and the dragon to make a perfect Plasma world. All this confused both Burgh and myself. Then Ghetsis gave Bianca back her Munna, and they all disappeared. Iris decided to stick with Bianca, while Burgh went back to the gym, and I found a Smoke Ball that Plasma left behind.
Castelia Gym: Clyde gave me another Fresh Water, and told me I have to walk through walls. Walls that are apparently covered in honey…? What? Apparently it was just a matter of stepping on switches to remove gates that blocked walk-through-able honey walls. After slowly navigating through all that, it was finally time for Burgh and his bugs. Including… Whirlipede? What the shit? Then at the end of the battle, Lunch evolved into a Swoobat! Insect Badge get!
Castelia City: The Xtransceiver rang, and it was Bianca. She said she wants to battle me at Route 4, and that Iris trained her. When I won, it almost sounded like she wanted to quit as a trainer…? After healing up from that, I skimmed around my Pokedex to look up areas of uncaught things, and then decided to get it evaluated. Juniper was excited that I’d seen 35, and wanted me to come to the lab for something! I wanted to go back to Nacrene for some stuff anyway.
Nacrene City: I traded a Cottonee to that girl and got a Petilil named “Lillil.” Yay.
Nuvema Town: Juniper gave me TM54 False Swipe! That would make catching stuff so much easier! …If I had anything that could learn it yet.
Route 4: Sand and construction everywhere. Hmm… A guy said darker sand has wild Pokemon in it. Cheren wanted to battle me again. I noticed a weird “Weather” logo on the battle screen. It was probably supposed to be a sandstorm, but it looked more like boiling cheese. After the battle, the Xtransceiver rang. Juniper said she wants the two of us and Bianca to meet her at Nimbasa City. Then I caught Zuruggu (Scraggy)! Named it “Bora.” Also caught Sandile! Named it “Upa.” And I caught Darumaka! Named it “Karin.” A construction guy gave me TM28 Dig. At the gate, I met Juniper and Cheren. She said something about Elesa and Electric types and then gave me Ultra Balls. Then she said something important sounding that I accidentally skipped, and went off to see Bianca. Cheren then went to catch more Pokemon.
Nimbasa City: First thing I saw was Team Plasma harassing the elderly. The Daycare Man, no less, because Plasma assumed he had lots of Pokemon to be liberated. I then fought a Team Plasma Grunt, who quickly ran away afterward. The old man gave me a Bicycle as thanks and headed back to the daycare. Then Bianca suddenly showed up and said there’s lots of stuff to see in Nimbasa, including the Pokemon Musical. Nimbasa has water and fountains everywhere!
I accidentally bumped into N, who said Plasma went to the amusement park. Turned out they weren’t there, so he asked me to ride the ferris wheel with him instead. Oh my. He said he’s the king of Team Plasma and that Ghetsis asked him to liberate the Pokemon. That explains a lot. After some more babbling, N challenged me to battle. He had a… Sigilyph? What the shit. After he lost to me, he said he was going to beat the Champion. Good luck with that. And it turned out the gym was right there in the park, and is apparently a roller coaster…? Clyde gave me another Fresh Water, and I think he said this gym was Electric type? I decided to put it off until later, and outside, I noticed a giant Pikachu statue! I then switched out Sea Turtle for Upa.
Current Team: Gokuu (Servine), Oolong (Panpour), Chichi-sa (Blitzle), Lunch (Swoobat), Hatchan (Sawk), Upa (Sandile).
As I wandered through town some more, Bianca kidnapped me and brought me to the Musical. The owner gave us a Prop Case to put props in. Then we played dress up with our Pokemon. I chose Hatchan, and after I made him pretty, Bianca and the dude then wandered off. But outside, I found Bianca’s dad demanding that she come home. Until Elesa, the gym leader, appeared and convinced him to let Bianca do her own thing. Then, in a gate to Route 16, a baseball player gave me a Macho Brace! Won’t need that for a while. But the baseball player was apparently not alone, because the town had two big sports stadiums!
The Battle Institute seemed uninteresting for now, because I don’t think it offered experience points. Some guy gave me HM04 Strength. A lady gave me a Soothe Bell. Another guy guy gave me a Sun Stone. And at the subway entrance, a girl gave me the Vs. Recorder. But the Battle Subway seemed confusing, so I put that off too, and decided to do some more exploring outside of town.
Route 5: I fought bakers and clowns here, for some reason. The bakery truck gave me $25,000 for BalmMushroom! Holy shit. I caught Liepard! Named it “Ghost.” Also caught Minccino! Named it “F. Hag.” Then I caught Trubbish! Named it “Old Gohan.” I couldn’t go any further because the drawbridge was raised, and could only be lowered by the gym leader on the other side, or something. Finally, I caught Gothita! Named it “Tenshinhan.” And I caught a bunch more because they’re Black exclusives.
Nimbasa Gym: Aaaaaa, this gym was all roller coasters. It looked like Space Mountain (“Whooooo!”). Once I got through all the paths and switches, I fought Elesa. Her Zebstrika was such a bitch. But Chichi-sa rocked the Emolgas (Electric/Flying?), since it absorbed Volt Switch and resisted Aerial Ace. Bolt Badge get! And Elesa said she could help fix the bridge on Route 5. Yay. But then I realized I never went to Desert Resort.
Desert Resort: I caught Ishizumai (Dwebble)! Named it “Jiaozi.” I also caught Maractus! Named it “Mutaito.” I beat up a doctor who then offered free heals, just like that nurse near Pinwheel Forest. I noticed a lot of weird statues, and a castle…? I found a Fire Stone, and some Rangers gave me more berries. Also found BlackGlasses and Soft Sand (which I wished I’d found sooner). And there was a guy from Hoenn who referenced the Go-Goggles!
Relic Castle: I caught Yamask! Named it “Yajirobe.” One guy said there’s too much sand, so I couldn’t go down the stairs. Another guy offered fossils, and I picked the Cover Fossil. No idea which is which. Then I decided to check out Route 16 before I progressed.
Route 16: Another bridge was blocked off here. There was a big Strength boulder here, and I used my new powers to push it into a hole and then walked over it. That’s new. Also found a Charcoal here, and the entrance to another forest.
Lostlorn Forest: There was a guy that loves traveling and meeting people, who stormed out on a lady who hates people. She refused to talk to me, too. Welp. There was a high platform I couldn’t reach, which I assumed requires Waterfall. I caught Pansage! Named it “King.” I also caught Swadloon! Named it “Mr. Popo.” And I caught Tranquill! Named it “God.” Ran out of stuff to do, so I finally went on with the plot.
Route 5: Right away, Cheren challenged me again. Then Elesa led us toward the bridge, until a crazy orange haired dude interrupted. Turned out he was Alder, the Unova champion. He confused Cheren by questioning his goals, and then wanted us to fight preschool kids for some reason. After all that, Elesa called the other gym leader, and the bridge was finally lowered.
Driftveil Drawbridge: I caught Ducklett! Named it “Piccolo.” But before I moved on to the fifth badge, I decided to take a break, since this is (probably?) the halfway point. The badge case looks like it only holds eight, anyway.